The Fallout
by luberly
Summary: This is the 5th story in the RangeWoman series. It continues immediately after 'Washington General' and continues mostly with the whole POV per chapter theme. Some are joined together together. How will Ranger and RangeMan deal with the General?
1. Chapter 1

This follows on from 'Washington General' but it deviates slightly from the POV per chapter layout. Sometimes an entire chapter is dedicated to one POV but sometimes there are multiples.

They typical FF disclaimer applies here. Enjoy my manipulations of JE's characters.

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_Steph's POV_

It was like somebody poured ice cold water over my head. My spidey sense told me something was happening, but I have no idea what it is. This is the second time today that something like this has happened and it scares the crap out of me. I need to talk to Tank and find out what he knows.

"Tank, what's going on? I just had another wave of spidey sense come over me. I know something is going on. What is it?"

"You're right Bomber, something is going on. Ranger was arrested earlier this morning but there's something weird about the whole thing. Lester and the lawyer are trying to figure out what is going on and four of the guys are flying down right now to join them. If you come in now, I can fully brief you and you can be involved as needed."

I looked at my watch and said, "I'll be there as soon as I can."

I did the typical RangeMan thing and hung up on Tank without saying goodbye. Part of me was furious that Tank didn't tell me about Ranger earlier. Another less volatile part of me recognised that Tank was holding off until he had something concrete to tell me. I know Tank would never keep something like this from me on purpose.

I pulled back into traffic and made it to RangeMan in just over 10 minutes. I parked in the garage and ran up the stairs to the control room because the elevator was taking too long. I walked in and didn't see Tank so I went and looked in his office. It too was empty, so I went back to the control room and asked Junior about Tank's location.

"He's in the conference room. He and Hector are in a conference call or something with Lester."

_Lester's POV _

On my third attempt, I finally got through to Tank. "Why did I get your voice mail? Has something happened?"

"No man, Bomber's spidey sense has been bothering her all day and she finally called me on it. I had to tell her about Ranger's arrest and the fact that you guys are looking for him. Never mind that now though, Hector says he has an address. It's a warehouse down by the train yard. We're running a search on the property to find out who owns or leases it.

"The guys are en-route to you already. They should be with you in about an hour. If you collect them from the airport, they have all the necessary equipment you'd need to rescue Ranger and Fiona."

At that point, Beautiful walked into the conference room. I could hear her asking Tank a bunch of questions about Ranger. I wanted to assure her a little so I said, "Hey Beautiful, me and a few of the guys are going to check out a site where we think Ranger might have been held. We'll have more information in just over an hour from now. I'll call back as soon as I have any information, good or bad. We'll find him just like you all found me."

Beautiful sounded a little congested when she said, "Good luck Les and bring him home please."

"I will do everything in my power to find him and bring him home to you Beautiful."

After I got off the phone with Tank, Hector and Beautiful, I called Ram to find out what equipment they were bringing.

"Hey Les, after this is done with, we'll need a couple of days off just to catch up on our sleep."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. What kind of toys are you guys bringing with you?"

"We have all the guns and ammo you could dream of. We also have an assortment of black clothing, Kevlar vests, night vision and heat sensing equipment. We are pretty much bringing all the same equipment we had when we searched for you in Atlanta. We never had a chance to unpack it. If we had to put the kit together, we'd still be in the office instead of in the air."

"OK, thanks Ram. I'll pick you guys up in a van and we'll go straight to the address where Ranger's phone is located. See you shortly."

I dressed in my typical black RangeMan attire and walked down the block to a sandwich shop to get a quick lunch. I hoped George has had time to eat because I'm going to bother him far sooner than he is expecting. I hurriedly ate my sandwich and then head back to the hotel. I kept a close watch on the people in and around the hotel lobby but I didn't notice anyone suspicious.

I took the elevator up to our floor and I knocked on George's door. After a few moments, George opened the door. He was busy buttoning up a shirt as he greeted me.

"I'm sorry to bother you earlier than we originally planned. Have you had a chance to eat lunch?"

George nodded and asked, "What's changed? Do you have some news?"

"It appears that Ranger's phone is still powered on. We were able to track it and some of the guys from RangeMan are already on their way down here. Would you like to join us on a fact finding mission? I'm about to leave to pick up the guys at the airport. We aren't sure if Ranger and Fiona are at this location, but it's worth a look see."

George nodded and said, "I'd love to join you but I'm not really dressed for that sort of thing."

"No worries. The guys are bringing a load of stuff with them so I'm sure we can find something that you can wear. You might have to stick with your own shoes though. I'm not sure how many and what sizes they'll have."

George grabbed his key and wallet and then joins me in the hall. We took the lift down to the lobby and then left through the side door out to the parking lot. This was just in case there were people placed in the lobby on the lookout for George or me. We climbed into the van and then drive to the airport. When we arrive, we watch the RangeMan jet on approach, so we got out of the van and opened the back so it would be ready for loading when the guys land.

About 15 minutes later, the plane was on the ground and the van was loaded with equipment and people. George dressed in some RangeMan black and we all pulled on our bulletproof vests. We planned on stopping before reaching the warehouse at the train yard so we could arm ourselves. We'd go the rest of the way on foot. Ram would look for a perch to set up his sniper rifle, Hal would check for security measures and the rest of us would breach once Hal gave the all clear.

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Of course, there is more to follow. Please be patient. I am editing and reviewing old content when I have a spare moment. More will appear soon.

L.


	2. Chapter 2

This is all Ranger...

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_Ranger's POV_

The music we heard was 'I'm Too Sexy' and it was the ring tone that Lester programmed into mine and everyone's phone he could get his hands on. I explained this to Fiona and she said, "He wanted to put his own special ringtone on my phone, but he couldn't find the right song, so he just gave himself a boring generic one that is different from the default one.

"I can't believe they'd leave my phone here. I'm sure they guys will have tracked it and are already on their way. It just doesn't make sense."

Fiona looked at me and asked, "Does this mean that Lester knows where we are?"

"I would think so. He probably called the phone just in case I was able to answer after finding it powered on. Either that or something's wrong with the GPS on the phone and they had to locate us using cell tower triangulation."

Fiona looked around and said, "You're right. This doesn't make any sense at all. Why would the General pretend to have us arrested and then just leave us somewhere that could be found so easily? Something else is going on here."

I thought for a moment and realised that Fiona was right. "I think you're right. This feels like it might be a trap."

I looked around the warehouse and didn't see anything suspicious. I couldn't see any wires to indicate that the doors or windows were wired, but that doesn't mean there wasn't some sort of explosive device somewhere. If this warehouse is owned by the General or paid for by his department, the explosives could be built into the walls or doors themselves.

I needed to get out of my bindings and figure out a way to communicate with the outside world. I flipped my bed over and pulled the metal frame apart hoping to find something I could use. I pulled a large metal piece from the frame and started to try and sharpen it on the concrete floor. The metal was harder than the floor, so it had little effect.

Next, I used the piece of metal from the bed frame to cut the mattress. It felt like there were wire springs inside and one of them might prove useful if I can straighten one of them. I struggled to get a piece of a coil free. I bent it one way and then another in an attempt to weaken the metal. After about 15 minutes of stress on the coil, it gave way.

I looked at the coil and pulled on it to try and flatten it. It was very stiff and it was slow going and very hard on my hands. There were cuts and scratches all along my hands and they were getting slippery with my blood.

"Ranger, take a break. Let me have a go, I can pin one end under my cot and use my weight as a leverage to try and straighten the coil."

I nodded and tossed the misshapen coil across the room to Fiona. I watched as she caught the coil and did exactly what she said. She pinned one end under the foot of her cot, sat on it and then used her shoe to try and flatten the curves in the metal. It looked like she was making progress up until the point that the coil slipped out from her shoe and was thrown across the room.

I groaned but Fiona muttered and swore for about 5 minutes. Eventually, she calmed down and said, "I'm really sorry Ranger. I was making progress up until the damn thing slipped out from under me."

I was frustrated at the situation, but it wasn't Fiona's fault, so I said, "Don't worry about it. We'll figure out another way. You don't have a belt or a barrette or anything like that?"

Fiona thought for a moment and said, "Would the underwire from my bra work?"

"It might. Toss it over."

I turned my back as Fiona removed her bra and then pulled the underwire out. She weighed it down with wad of paper and then tossed it to me. I picked it up and inserted it into the lock that bound my left foot. I wiggled it around for what seemed like an hour, but in reality it was only 10 minutes before I managed to feel the lock mechanism give way. I repeated the process on my right foot and after a few more minutes, my feet were free.

I tried my luck with my hands, but they had a different lock that was much smaller. The wire didn't really fit into the lock so I had to try and file it down by rubbing it on the concrete. I tested the wire in my lock until it was worn enough to fit. I started with my left hand, but it was difficult to manoeuvre. I switched hands and had better luck on the right hand, getting it free after 15 minutes.

Now, I had had three limbs free so i had to work on the final hand. My right hand was very cut up from my earlier attempts to straighten the coil, so I took a break. I used some water from my bottle to wash my hands and then dried them on the remains of my mattress. My next attempt to free my left hand was far more successful without the blood causing the wire to slip.

As soon as I was free from my shackles, I hurried over to Fiona. Working on Fiona's locks was a lot quicker and she was free a few minutes later. The first thing we did was to go and look in the van for my phone. I found it in the wheel well and there was a moment of doubt as to whether this was done on purpose or whether it was left by accident.

Our theory of a trap was solidified moments later when it became clear that the phone was damaged so it couldn't make outgoing calls. It looked like they removed the microphone and pretty much everything that was usable on the phone. The only thing that it seemed capable of doing was ring when there was an incoming call. I doubted we could even answer it if it did ring again.

I walked towards the door and looked closely at it and the surrounding walls. I couldn't tell if there was anything in them that could prove harmful, but we'd find out pretty soon. I could hear movement outside the building.

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Uh-oh... what's going on outside?


	3. Chapter 3

A POV back in Trenton, but there is a bit of action as well...

Sorry that things are taking a little longer to get posted. I'm writing the ending of this story from scratch and I want to make sure I get far enough ahead that I can make fixes if I write myself into a corner. I aplogise for this in advance and I could use all the encouragement you can give to hurry things along.

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_Steph's POV_

I have been pacing the length of the conference room for the past 30 minutes. Tank got so frustrated with me that he eventually left the room. Hector stayed and was working on the search of the train yard building. I watched as he left the room and returned with a print out. He handed it to me and I took a seat and started to read the report.

Lula stuck her head in and asked if she could help. I held up the report and said, "Hector just got the search results. Maybe you can help me go through it?"

"Sure, gimme some pages."

I handed Lula a bunch of pages from the search and continued reading. It looked liked the building was owned by a shell corporation that was untraceable. I think I read about 10 pages that followed one link or another trying to determine the actual owner. There was a trail of shell companies and trusts and other non-descript entities. This probably meant that the government either built or owned the building, but they didn't want others to know they owned, built or even used the building.

I read for twenty minutes or so. I kept a close eye on the clock and knew that Lester and the guys wouldn't be far off from the warehouse. Lula was sitting beside me and I noticed her posture and demeanour change out of the corner of my eye. She stayed silent for a few more minutes and then she said, "Based on the size and construction of this building it sure did cost an awful lot to build. Look at some of these materials. Why would a warehouse need such complex wiring?

All of a sudden, a realisation hit me and my spidey sense went haywire. I looked up and both Hector and Lula were staring at me. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and dialled Lester. After three rings, it went to voice mail. I tried again with the same result.

"Hector, call Lester. It's a trap!"

Hector punched Lester's phone number into the speaker phone and we all listened as it rang. Finally, after the third try, Lester answered.

"What's up? We're just about to go in?"

"No!" I screamed. "You can't go in. It's a trap. Lula noticed that the cost of construction for that building was a little overboard and my spidey sense is going crazy. I think they've rigged it somehow. I wouldn't be surprised if the simple act of opening the door causes the whole building to explode."

"OK Beautiful, we've got some equipment here that will let us look at the density of the walls. If there are explosives and extra wiring, this machine will tell us. Once we know where they are located, we might be able to drill a hole and insert a camera to figure out what's going on."

"Do you know if Ranger is in there?"

"Not yet."

"Call out to him. If he hears you, he might try to open the door and that won't be good."

"Hold on, I'll go to the door and find out."

We were all standing leaning towards the speaker phone, waiting to hear back from Lester. Tank and a few of the other guys on the floor heard me yelling into the phone and came to investigate. While we were waiting to hear from Lester, I filled them in. Over the next few minutes, we could hear movement and voices in the background.

"Good news. Ranger and Fiona are inside. They also believe that the building is rigged, but they can't see any evidence of it from the inside. We will just have to use our high-tech toys and see if we can figure out a way to get them out without blowing any of us up. I'm going to keep my phone on so you can hear what's going on, but I need to attach it to my belt so you might hear some ruffling as I move.

"It's the best we can do because we don't have any communications gear with us that would allow you to listen in. We only have short-wave radios and ear buds."

Tank leaned towards the speaker and said, "Your phone will do. Do you need anything? Are Ranger and Fiona OK?"

"Ranger says his hand is torn up a bit from trying to get out of some shackles, but other than that, they're fine. They haven't had much in the way of food and water, but that can be easily rectified once we get them out. Hal is setting up the scanner now. We'll have more information shortly."

None of us could sit still as we waited to hear from Lester. I resumed my pacing, Lula went on a coffee run and Tank was turning his chair from side to side. Watching the motion of Tank's chair was a little nauseating, so I focused my attention on a spot on the wall and bounced on my feet, trying to use up some of my nervous energy.

The last time I felt like this, the guys did a wonderful job getting my mind off Lester's rescue by taking us to the gym. I knew that wouldn't work this time. This time, it wasn't just Lester who was in danger. This time, Ranger, Hal, Ram, Vince and Woody were all in danger. Fiona LeBlanc was there as well, but I didn't know anything about her other than a few passing remarks that Lester seemed to be taken with her.

I was too worried about Ranger and the guys to even consider leaving this room until I know for sure that they will be OK. I wanted to talk to Ranger and hear his voice to confirm that he is no longer in danger. More than that, I wanted to feel his arms around me and listen to him speak Spanish in my ear as I fall asleep.

Hal's voice came in clear when he said, "There's some sort of plastic explosives lining the walls at regular intervals. Each joint in the frame is wired so we can't cut away part of the wall without setting off the explosives. The doors and the windows are also wired. Ram is going to climb up and see if there's any access from the room or the neighbouring building."

Several more minutes passed with movement and distant voices. Finally, after almost 10 minutes of silence, we heard Lester say, "We found an access point in the ceiling. It's going to be pretty tight for Ranger, but it's all we can find. George has taken the van to the nearest store that sells climbing gear. We'll cut the hole in the roof and when George is back, I'll repel in and get Ranger and Fiona harnessed up so we can all climb out."

Time passed slowly. Actually, that's an understatement. Every second that passed seemed like a minute. Every minute seemed like an hour. I leaned forward and rested my head in my arms on the table. I couldn't calm my mind. It was running through several possible outcomes with the building and none of them were good.

I heard a noise from the phone that sounded like a chainsaw. I looked around the room and made eye contact with Tank. His ESP was working fine so he said, "That's the saw they're going to use to cut through the roof. I'm guessing that they found a small section that had no wires or structural components."

The saw noise lasted for about 20 minutes. We could hear a lot of shouting once the sawing was finished, but it wasn't clear what was going on. The next clear voice we could hear was Lester's. "George returned and I'm harnessed and ready to climb down. It's going to be a very tight squeeze for me to get my shoulders through that hole. Ranger's going to have an even tougher time."

"Here I go."

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Well, down Lester goes. What could possibly go wrong? The next chapter should come online tomorrow at some point. Keep up with the reviews. I like the encouragement.


	4. Chapter 4

This is the last pre-written chapter of this series. The following chapters will not follow on as quickly. Sorry in advance. Enjoy this one now that it's here.

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_Ranger's_ POV

When I first heard Lester's voice, I was ready to tell him that they needed to take precautions. Instead, he was the one that told me that they thought it was a trap.

"How do you know that?"

"Lula found some construction numbers that didn't add up and Beautiful's spidey sense helped her put two and two together. We've got the scanner and some other equipment so we'll check out the walls to see what's going on."

Fiona and I moved into the centre of the building. If the walls and door were indeed rigged with explosives, we wanted to be as far away as possible. Fiona looked at me and asked, "Who's Lula and this Beautiful Lester's talking about?"

"They're two women that work at RangeMan. Stephanie Plum is a good friend of Lester's. He likes to give out nicknames, and that's the one he chose for her. Steph is known for her spidey sense. She tends to put things together that nobody else sees and she's rarely wrong. She and Lula realised that the construction costs for this building didn't really add up and then Steph had a feeling that something was wrong."

"They sound like interesting women. I'd like to meet them and thank them for all their hard work. If it wasn't for them, Lester, your men and us might not be here right now."

I was grinning at this and said, "I'm sure we can arrange for you to meet them."

"Stephanie is more than just an employee, isn't she?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Your face just light up when you spoke of her and her abilities. You are clearly proud of her, but there's more to it than that."

"I guess she is more than an employee to me. I think I've been in love with her for as long as I've known her, but because of my work with the General, I've never felt comfortable entangling with a woman. When I was done with missions and all my enemies had been eliminated in one way or another, I was read to explore things with her. Now this situation with the General has thrown things a bit off schedule."

"How does she feel?"

"I think we're pretty much on the same page. We had a long talk and actually went out on our first date the night that Lester went missing. I just hope I get out of this so I can hold her in my arms again."

I heard somebody on the roof and then I heard Ram yell, Boss, we're going to cut a hole in the roof right where I'm standing." He stomped on the room so we could tell where he was. "I need you to be as far away as possible for the next little while."

"Will do. Be careful." I yelled up at the men.

Fiona and I had to endure 20 minutes of loud saw noises, but once a hole was made, we could see Lester's smiling face.

"Hey you two. I hope you're up for being rescued."

"How am I supposed to fit through that hole Santos?"

"You'll have to squeeze Boss. Any larger and we'd hit wires and steel beams."

We watched as Lester squeezed through the hole and then repelled down into the warehouse. He then handed a harness to Fiona and helped her into it.

"You will both need to climb straight up the rope because we can't put any pressure on the sides of the hole. We have a frame set up that is taking the weight at the moment, but we can't have anyone pull you up because the frame won't hold. I hope you learned how to climb a rope in school Firefly."

Fiona was taken aback with Lester's new nickname for her but she didn't say anything. She looked up and looked a bit pale. "Would you think less of me if I said I was horrible with a rope?"

Lester laughed and said, "No, I didn't want to assume, but I brought along this pulley thingy that helps you to climb up."

I watched as Lester got Fiona connected to the rope and showed her how to attach the pulley mechanism and use it to pull herself up the rope. Fiona was a bit apprehensive, but once she got into a good rhythm, she successfully got to the top and was helped out by Ram, who threw the rope back down.

I looked at Lester and said, "You're turn. I'm not 100% sure I'll fit through that hole and I'd hate for you to be stuck down here because I get stuck."

"I'll be up top and I'll help you out once you get near the top. You're going to have to get one shoulder out at a time, but the tricky part will be avoiding putting any weight on the edge of the opening itself. "

I watched Lester shimmy up the rope and caught it when he threw it down to me. I made short work of the climb, but it was clear that getting out would be difficult. I ended up reaching up with one arm and grabbing hold of the top of the frame that was set up. I then twisted my shoulders but was having a hard time getting the second shoulder free.

Both Ram and Lester took hold of me so all my weight wasn't on my one arm and between the three of us, I was finally free of the roof. Unfortunately, the last tug through the roof dislocated my left shoulder. Lester and Ram had to help me off the roof and once we were far enough away from the building, Hall pressed a button and blew up the warehouse.

Lester patted me on the back and said, "There's someone on the phone that wants to talk to you."

I took the phone in my good arm and said, "Babe."

"Thank god you're alright. I've been going crazy here ever since I found out."

"Well Babe, it's thanks to you and Lula that I'm here at all. Lester told me about your spidey sense and Lula's mistrust of the construction costs. Hiring the two of you has proved to be one of the best decisions I've made in a really long time"

"Are you OK though? When will you be home?"

"I'm fine Babe. They didn't hurt me. They were hoping that my rescue would kill me and the people who rescued me, but we managed to get away without any injuries. As for when I'm coming home, I don't know just yet. We're on our way to a safe house that I'm sure the General doesn't know about. Once we're safe, I'll talk to George and we will figure out our options. I will call you later Babe."

I got off the phone with Steph and looked at the guys who had rescued us. I didn't want to let my guard down quite yet, but looking over at Fiona, I saw that she had let hers down. Fiona was sound asleep leaning against a willing Lester. He kept looking down at her making sure that she was comfortable and the look on his face. Normally such a sappy look would have provoked teasing, but I'm not sure either of us was in a position to tease the other about the women in our lives.

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A/N From now on, things may come a little slower because I have to write the rest from scratch. Hopefully it won't take too long and my holiday prep won't get in the way too much. Of course, there will be a bit of a stand still soon, so if I don't get the rest of this story posted before Christmas, I'll do my best after the weekend.

L.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for sticking around, even if my posts have slowed down. The first four stories of this series were finished before I posted them. When I wrote them, I lost interest 1/2 way through this one so now I have to write new content. I'm going slower so I can ensure that I don't make too many mistakes or paint myself into the proverbial corner.

More encouragement is always welcome! Enjoy.

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_George's POV_

What do I do now? My biggest concern is knowing who to trust. This is not a military issue even though it involves military personnel, but I might want to talk to somebody from the Judge Advocate General's office. I will look to see who my contact was the last time I worked with them and if they're still active. I made a note of my thoughts and looked around the room where I was sitting.

We arrived at a safe house in the outskirts of Baltimore. Once inside, the guys divided into groups so some could go on watch and others could take a break. I watched as Lester led Fiona up to a room so she could get some rest. I also watched Ram drag Ranger into the kitchen so he could clean and bandage his hands. When they were done, Ranger left Woody and Hal to keep watch while the rest of the men took a 4 hour rest break. Ram and Vince would relieve the watch in 4 hours and I would meet with Ranger, Lester and Fiona.

I decided to make a few notes about my thoughts. I flagged a few people I needed to call, but it wasn't safe to call from here at this point in time, so I just marked it down to follow up on later. My list of questions was getting longer and longer.

Who had the General hired to arrest Ranger and Fiona. Were they actually military? How did the General react when he heard that the building Ranger was in had exploded? Does he know that nobody was inside at the time? Would he contact any of Ranger's family? If so, we needed to beat him to it. I made a note to get a secure phone as a priority.

After I filled three whole pages with questions, I decided to take a nap. I knew I wouldn't have much of a chance once we got underway, so I needed to take advantage of this small opportunity while it lasted. I lay down on the sofa and was asleep moments later.

Normally I'm a light sleeper, but today I must have been extra exhausted because I didn't wake up until Ranger shook my shoulder. He looked down at me with a blank face and said, "Dinner is ready if you want something to eat. I don't' suggest waiting too long or there will be none left. We couldn't risk ordering in so Ram volunteered to make lasagne.

I looked around and noticed that it was dark outside. We arrived here late in the afternoon so it was unlikely that I slept much longer than the requested 4 hours. I looked around and saw that Vince was standing outside at the front of the house, so the watch had obviously switched and I slept right through it. I was finding it hard to believe that I was so unaware of my surroundings, but I was exhausted.

I walked into the kitchen and sat at the table where a full plate of lasagne and salad was waiting for me. I looked around and nodded at Ranger, Ram, Woody and Hal. I saw that both Lester and Fiona were absent. Ranger smiled at me and said, "Lester was down earlier. He said that Fiona was still completely out of it. We can talk without her to begin with, but I figured we should eat first."

I nodded and replied, "I didn't realise how tired I was. I made a list of questions, but some of them might require me to contact several individuals. Is there a secure phone here that I can use?"

Ranger looked at Hal with a raised eyebrow so Hal stood and walked over to a drawer in the kitchen. He returned and handed me a satellite phone and said, "This is not your standard satellite phone. Hector has rigged it with a scrambler of some sort that blocks your location and number from anyone you call. It cannot be easily traced, even by General Matthews and his men."

I nodded my thanks and asked Ranger, "Shall you and I talk now? Or should I make my calls now?"

Ranger thought for a moment and said, "I think we should talk first. I might be able to answer some of your questions and I may have more for you to ask. I would prefer if Fiona and Lester joined us though."

"We're here Boss." I turned and saw Lester lead Fiona into the kitchen. She looked tired but in good spirits otherwise. Ranger looked at them and said, "OK, why don't you two get something to eat and we'll meet as soon as you are finished in the living room. Those of you off watch should get some rest."

I watched as the guys filed out of the kitchen and followed them. I didn't have my briefcase that held my usual notepads and my favourite pen, but I managed to find a ream of printer paper and a fewf Bic pens that would do the trick nicely.

I spent the next 20 minutes writing the various questions I had at the top of their own piece of paper. I would ask these questions with Ranger, Lester and Fiona present and try to fill in some of the blank space with contact ideas, guess work and any other information we might have. It would give us somewhere to start at least.

Ranger was the first to arrive. He sat down in front of the coffee table where I had laid out all of the pages and questions. He looked them over and was about to ask me some of his own when Fiona came in followed by Lester. They sat down on the love seat and looked between Ranger and me waiting for things to start.

I looked around the room and said, "We need to get a clear picture of the timeline for all of these events. Ranger, can you tell me when you last met with General Matthews?"

Ranger looked down at the paper I picked up and he started to speak. "Three and a half weeks ago, I returned from my final mission. My contract date ended while I was away, so I informed the General at that time that I was finished with missions.

"At first, the General ignored my statement. As the course of the debriefing went on, he kept saying things like, '_On your next mission_' or '_the next time I see you_'. When he shook my hand at the end, I felt like he still hadn't taken my statement about ending my missions seriously so I put it in terms he would definitely understand. I told him that I was finished running missions for the government. I wanted a life and I wanted to focus my energy on my company.

"The General laughed and said, '_I give it two months tops before you're back begging for a mission. I know how much you like them and how excited you get._' When I disagreed with him, he just smiled at me and said, 'Be seeing you around Manoso' as he walked out of the room.

"At the time, I just ignored him and got on with my life. I never imagined that he'd come up with a trap like this to try and get me back. There are plenty of younger guys who would be just as willing as I was at their age. I don't know why he's so fixated on me staying."

I was furiously writing things down as I listened to Ranger speak. It sounded like the General was already making plans a month ago to try and keep Ranger. Maybe he slipped up and said something at the early stages of his planning.

Ranger finished his first portion of the story by explaining that he was on a date the night he was requested down in Atlanta. We could easily prove that the men involved in kidnapping Lester were employed by the General. Our problem was proving that it was sinister rather than preventative like they explained to Fiona.

I looked at the paper for a little while in thought. I finally lifted me head to see all three of the people in the room with me watching me. I looked over at Ranger and asked, "Do you have any proof about the cancer and the whereabouts of Ramon Diaz?"

Ranger nodded his head and said, "I have a file back at RangeMan that contains photos and medical files. They don't have his name on them but we have facial recognition results stating that the man in the photos is Ramon Diaz, even if he is a bit emaciated from his illness."

I made a note of that and moved to the next sheet of paper. I looked at Lester and asked him to explain the sequence of events he experienced. Lester made short work explaining his kidnapping. He was picked up by a car that looked like a typical RangeMan SUV. He noticed something was wrong and was shot with a tranq gun. He awoke in a basement and heard two men speaking Spanish.

Lester recognised almost immediately that they weren't who they were pretending to be. Their use of the Paisa dialect wasn't convincing and when a second prisoner appeared, it was very obvious to Lester that things were not what they seemed.

I wrote down all of Lester's observations and turned my attention back to Ranger. "How did you locate Lester?"

Ranger explained about the searches RangeMan ran on the customer and his employees. They found one man that didn't fit the profile and they were able to link him to the General. Two of his employees were then able to locate properties belonging to this man. Lester was in one of those properties.

I wrote down Stephanie Plum and Lula's name. I made a note to ask about Lula' surname later. I next asked Ranger and Fiona to recount their story. When Fiona mentioned the license plate number, I wrote it down. She also quoted the number of the van that was left in the warehouse with them.

Ranger explained how they were located and I made notes to get the paperwork that is currently in the RangeMan offices pertaining to all of these searches. Finally, I went through my list of questions with the three of them. We all gave up around midnight. We were all tired and there was little more we could do tonight. I had about 15 pages of paper to review and I still had many unanswered questions. The phone calls and getting those answers would just have to wait until the morning.

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More will follow at some point. I can't be 100% sure when though as the holidays are here and I have lots of things to get done.

L.


	6. Chapter 6

Here's the next chapter.. This will be the last post for this story until next week or possibly the New Year. Happy Christmas/Holidays all... and catch you all later.

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_Stephanie's POV_

The Second day in the gym was just as hard as the first. The only difference was that we knew what to expect so we worked a little harder. Lula was beaming when we left the gym. It seems that this whole RangeMan thing was really working for her. She seemed more confident and she was genuinely smiling a lot of the time.

I spoke to Ranger the night before. He called around 6PM and we talked for about 30 minutes. He explained that they were holed up in a safe house and that he was using a special secure phone that could only make outgoing calls. We talked about nothing and everything. I expressed my desire to be there with in his arms. He told me that he missed me and that he couldn't wait to fall asleep with me in his arms.

Ranger also expressed his pride in how we helped locate him and deduce that there were explosives in the building. Without that information, none of them would still be alive. Ranger also mentioned that we might need to do some additional searches tomorrow, but he'd contact us with the necessary information when he had it.

I was happy that I was able to talk to him, but once I was off the phone, depression started to kick in. That's where having a friend as your roommate really helps. Lula knew who I was talking to and she also knew that I'd be a bit sad afterward. She knocked on my door and popped her head into my room and said, "We're having a pool tourney out in the games room. There have been requests for you to join us. What do you say?"

I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Why not? It might take my mind off of Ranger's problems for a while." I made a quick trip to the bathroom to check my appearance. I had been crying whilst talking to Ranger, but my eyes weren't red and blotchy so I just left my hair in its messy pony tail and followed Lula out of the apartment.

The absence of Lester, Woody, Vince, Hal and Ram was immediately obvious. Lester and Woody were the most vocal of the group, but the others made up with their size and laughter. Cal and Manny were doing their best to keep everyone's minds occupied by organising a little tournament.

Zip was leaning against the far wall with his arms crossed against his chest. I walked across the room and stood beside him, mimicking his posture. He looked down at me, smiled and asked, "How you holding up Bomber?"

"I'm OK. I'll be better once Ranger is back and things get back to normal. It's not much starting out here when ½ the team is missing in action."

Zip nodded and said, "If I know one thing about Ranger, he doesn't let things like this get in his way for long. He'll do what he needs to do in Washington and he'll be back before you know it. Focus on the things you can control right now, like your training and any searches that are needed. I know from experience that nights are the hardest time, so if you keep your days filled to the max, sleep is easier at night."

I thanked Zip for his advice and made to move away to join the rest of the room. I looked back at Zip and had a thought. "Hey Zip, why are you hanging out way over here? Why don't you join us?"

Zip gave me a forced smile and said, "I'm OK Steph. I'm just a bit preoccupied. General Matthews and I have always been close and I'm just having a hard time believing that he's the one behind all this mess. He and my dad are best friends. I've known his my whole life."

I looked at Zip and felt nothing but sympathy for him. Someone he loves is being accused of something that is a out of character and the evidence is against him. Zip isn't sure he knows how to reconcile what he knows of the man and what he's learned about his recently. I threw some of his own advice back to him and said, "Come on Zip. Come play pool. It will help keep your mind occupied. Perhaps we can do a bit of digging tomorrow to see if there's more to this than we think. If there's one thing I've learned over the years, don't ignore your gut."

Zip nodded and we joined the rest of the group at the pool tables. We ordered pizza and the participants in the tournament were slowly knocked out until only Lula and Tank were left. They each walked around the table trash talking one another and the rest of us stood back and watched in awe as they set the final game up.

A coin flip was needed to determine who would break, and when Lula won the coin toss, Tank stood back, smiled and said, "I bet you don't even sink a single ball off the break."

Lula looked up at him in surprise and asked, "What are we betting then? I don't have a lot of cash because I've just started this job, but if you got another idea, I'm all ears."

Tank thought for a moment and then said, "Loser has to be at the winner's beck and call for a full 24-hour period."

Lula contemplated the bet for a moment and laughed. Everyone looked at her funny so she finally said, "I'd love to have you as my bitch for a day Tank. You've got yourself a deal."

Tank grinned and stood back and watched Lula break. Not only did she manage to sink off the break, she pocketed all but two of her balls in her first turn. Tank looked a little pale when it came to his turn. He managed to picket only 5 of his balls, but he did leave Lula in a difficult position because she had no clear sight from the cue ball to either of her balls.

Lula walked around the table a few times before she lined up her shot. I had no idea what she was doing because it looked like she wasn't even aiming at her balls. In the end, what she did lost her a turn, but she ended up placing the cue ball in a place that there was no way that Tank could touch it without fouling and hitting one of her balls.

"That's playing dirty Lula." Tank said. She simply smiled at him and moved back so he could take his turn. Instead of trying to snooker her again, Tank took his shot and because he hit one of Lula's balls first, he lost his turn. Part of me wondered if Tank did this on purpose, because where the ball ended up down the table meant that it took Lula seconds to clear the table and win the game.

Tank was grimacing when Lula was dancing around celebrating her win, but I saw the sides of his mouth curl up when Lula hugged him and thanked him for the game. I was pretty sure that Tank wasn't too unhappy that he lost the game or the bet. I just had to find out from Lula how she planned on fulfilling the bet she made with Tank.

It was getting late and all of us had to work in the morning so we all headed to bed. When Lula and I were back in our apartment, Lula looked at me with a huge grin on her face. I can't believe Tank made that bet. It was like taking candy from a baby, albeit a very willing baby."

I looked at Lula and she laughed at the surprised look on my face. "Come on Steph, I know as well as you do that Tank threw that game. I'm not sure if he did it because he was afraid to beat me or because he wanted to be my slave for a day. Either way, I get to spend a while day with him to find out. Maybe there is hope for us yet."

I smiled at Lula and said, "As long as you don't go out and buy another engagement ring this time around."

I saw Lula blush and she nodded. "I'm in a much better place in my life right now. I think I'm actually ready to be a grown up. If Tank is still interested, I might use that 24 hour period to have a real conversation with him and try to explain some of the craziness from our previous relationship. It might lead to something new or it might not. Either way, at least I'm open to it now."

I smiled at Lula and hugged her before wishing her a goodnight and turning in myself. Once in bed, I briefly thought about Ranger before falling into a dreamless sleep.

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Let me know what you think...


	7. Chapter 7

Here is some more.. spanners and things thrown into the mix...

Happy New Year to everybody and thanks for the patience. I was away from civilisation .. no internet or even a mobile signal.

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_Ranger's POV_

Morning came later than usual. I didn't wake up at my normal time and I didn't go to a gym or take a run like I am used to. It wasn't exactly ideal or safe to venture outside of the safe house just yet so I stayed in bed thinking about my Babe.

At 8AM, I gave up trying to sleep and headed downstairs to find almost everyone else up already. George was in the living room on the phone. He had dozens of papers spread out in front of him and as soon as he hung up one call, he would immediately make another.

Food miraculously appeared in front of me. I looked up to find Ram smiling and thanked him for his initiative and cooking skills. I dug into the food and raised my eyebrow in shock at how good the eggs were. I looked up at Ram and he laughed. He said, "My parents own a restaurant. They taught me everything they know. I can cook almost anything, but only for 5 or more people. I haven't really worked out the whole _cooking for one or two people_ thing. I once had a girlfriend who was insulted when I cooked for her the first time. She thought I thought she was fat and needed a lot of food."

I swallowed and said, "That's a bit of a leap for her to assume you thought she was fat. Consider your evening shift covered so you can cook dinner. I'll take it so you can concentrate on the food. This is delicious."

"Thanks Boss, but my shift will be over with plenty of time for me to cook." I shook my head and said, "No Ram, you need that time to rest just like the rest of us. Tank has sent 4 men from Atlanta to join us so we'll have a bit more protection and flexibility. They are also bringing supplies so if there is anything in particular you need, please make a list and I'll pass it on to Tank. You have 20 minutes."

I watched as Ram returned to the kitchen with a piece of paper and pen to make his list. I was sure he would probably request a few items that were less than healthy, but that was fine with me. Sometimes you need comfort food and since Ram was more than willing to do the cooking for 14 people including the four from Atlanta, I wouldn't put any sort of restrictions on him.

Ram emerged 10 minutes later and handed me a list. I looked down at it briefly and then walked out of the dining room in search of Lester. He was holding the second satellite phone so when I found him in the den, I simply handed him the list and said, "Pass this on to Tank. We need supplies and the guys from Atlanta can stop at the store on the way in." Lester nodded, took the list and pulled out the phone.

I walked into the living room and found George talking on the phone. I was about to turn around and leave him in peace when he waved his hand and indicated that I sit down. I waited for him to finish his conversation and made myself comfortable.

"Ranger, something is not right here. The General's signature wasn't on your arrest warrant. He was just following orders, but it's not clear whose orders he was following. Every person I've talked to says that General Matthews has been acting extremely paranoid lately. If I was one to accept things at face value, I'd attribute this to his failing mental status. Now, I'm not so sure. How can we investigate this?"

I thought for a moment and said, "Maybe we should get my search experts to see if anything funny is going on. I'll make a call and we'll see if they can find anything."

I took the satellite phone from George's outstretched hand and walked up to my room. I dialled the control room and asked to be put through to Tank. Once Tank was on the line I said, "Hey, George has reason to believe that there's more going on here than we originally thought. I need Steph and Lula to do a search on the General and all of his family members. George is concerned that someone might be forcing the General's hand, but we have no idea who at this point in time."

"Sure thing Ranger, do you want to brief the ladies yourself?"

I thought for a moment and realised that if I heard my Babe's voice, I might have a hard time concentrating for the rest of the day. Instead of agreeing to brief them myself, I said, "I trust that you can take care of that Tank. Please call if they have any news. Also note that we only have the two phones here, so if necessary, try both numbers."

Tank agreed and got off the phone. I looked at George and said, "Tank will get back to us if they find anything."

George nodded and proceeded to tell me what he found out that morning. "The General was actually ordered to Atlanta. The hotel room that he stayed in was actually booked by a different department. When I asked a source to look into it, they couldn't find any record of the request or the cost codes used. It appears that somebody higher up than the General were responsible for Lester's abduction and your subsequent false arrest.

"A search on the General might produce some information, but if the search is to be successful, we need to know who made those bookings on behalf of the General."

I nodded and asked, "If we could get surveillance footage of the General at the hotel, perhaps he met with somebody. I'll get Hector on that right now. I'll also as Stephanie to contact he hotel to try and get some information on the General's booking. Maybe they know who made it or have a phone number on record."

George nodded and left the room so I could make my calls in privacy. First, I called Hector and asked him to see if he could access the surveillance footage from the hotel in Atlanta. He asked if I was looking for anything specific so I told him to keep an eye out for any meetings, hand offs or brush passes with the General. Hector agreed and told me that he'd get back to me as soon as possible.

My next call was to Stephanie. I didn't want to call her cell phone so I called the control room and was forwarded to her desk phone. "Hello, Stephanie Plum speaking."

"Hey Babe. I need you to look into something in addition to the search you are currently running on the General and his family."

I heard silence and then a sigh. "Does this mean that the General may not be guilty after all? Zip was really upset because he couldn't see the General doing something like this."

"I don't know for sure Babe, but some information has come to light and we need to make sure we have all the necessary information before we can move forward. If it turns out that the General is not to blame, I for one will be very happy.

"Now, we need to find out as much information as we can about who made the hotel reservation for the General in Atlanta. George was able to find out that the cost codes were false, but you might be able to find out some information. They don't normally allow a booking like this without charging a booking fee ahead of time, so the caller must have said or done something to get around this. I'm hoping you can use your mad people skills to get some helpful information."

"I'll do my best Ranger. So far we haven't found anything out of the ordinary about the General, but it's only been a little while and the main search hasn't even finished running. I'll make a few calls and get back to you."

"Thanks Babe. Hearing your voice has really perked up my mood. I was beginning to doubt this would ever end. I miss you and I'll try to call you later tonight."

"OK Ranger. Have a nice day and be safe."

After getting off the phone with Steph, I returned to the living room and handed the phone back to George. I explained that Hector would look at as much surveillance footage he could hack into and Stephanie and Lula would be working on the searches and looking into the hotel, so I'm sure we'll have something to work with from one of them soon.

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Thanks for reading and keep the reviews coming. Next update soon...


	8. Chapter 8

Hey everyone. :) Happy New Year!

Enjoy the new chapter and let me know what you think.

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_Lula's POV_

I know that RangeMan isn't normally like this, but I love the pressure and stress involved. I have never been in a position like this so when I find things when time is of the essence, I feel great. Right now, I'm reviewing some information about General Matthews and his family. We are on the lookout for anything out of place and I think I found something.

I knew Stephanie was in the conference room on the phone trying to get some information from the hotel, so I went to Tank. I knocked on the door and walked in when I heard Tank say 'Enter.'

"Hi Tank, I have found something but I'm not sure exactly what it means."

"Explain."

"Well, I was reviewing General Matthew's financials and it appears that his wife has some hidden money. I found a bank account in her name that has a substantial balance. The account was only opened a month ago so the timing made me a bit curious."

"Tell me about the General's wife."

"Missy is actually the General's second wife. His first wife died about 8 years ago. He and Missy have been married for 5 years and she is a lot younger than him. He's 59 and she's only 31 years old. She sounds like a gold digger to me, but the bank account jumps out to my fishy factor.

"I was unable to trace the origins of the money. It seems like it was deposited at the time the account was opened. I can confirm that the account was opened in person by Mrs. Matthews, so maybe she wasn't alone. If we can get access to the Bank's security footage, it might shed some light on this for us."

Tank smiled and said, "I know just who to call. Hold on a moment. If we do get access to the footage, you get the honours of reviewing it once it arrives. Hector would normally be involved but he's busy working on something else for Ranger. Hold on here a moment. I'll just make a quick call to find out if we can get access to that footage."

I sat and listened to the one side of the conversation. Tank was very professional and he was very polite when he spoke into the phone. I could tell from the tone of Tank's voice near the end that we would get access to the footage. Tank smiled, thanked his contact and hung up.

He grinned at me and said, "I will be getting an email within 20 minutes. It contains all surveillance footage from the bank on the day that Mrs. Matthews opened her account. I'm hoping that we will find her arriving, accompanying or leaving with somebody who might shed some light on this situation."

I stood and returned to my cubicle to review more of the search results. I read information about the General's daughter and found nothing that stood out. I also found nothing of interest in his son's information as well. I was just about to revisit the General's results when Stephanie came back to her cubicle.

"Did you find out anything of interest Steph?"

She looked at me and shook her head. The girl that took the booking has since transferred to a different hotel in the chain to be closer to her family. Nobody is 100% sure where she ended up or where she was from originally. It sounded like the poor girl never really settled in properly in Atlanta."

I sighed and turned back to my computer. I had a sudden thought and looked up at Steph who was still standing at the door of my cubicle. She looked lost in thought so I said, "Is something wrong Steph?"

She shook her head and looked at me expectantly. I looked at her and said, "How many Four Seasons hotels can there be? Maybe we can try to contact a few of them to see where this woman transferred. I can start with the one in New York. I know a guy who works maintenance there. He always flirts with the girls on the front desk so he'll know if this girl is there."

Steph nodded and said, "OK, give your friend a call and if she's not there, we'll take turns calling the various other Four Seasons hotels in the country."

I pulled out my personal phone and watched as Steph raised her eyebrows in an attempt to lift just one. "My friend won't answer if he doesn't recognise the number so I have to use my personal phone. Hopefully it won't be a problem for RangeMan if we need his information as part of our case."

Steph thought for a second and said, "Why don't you call your friend on your phone and then tell him that you'll call him right back from your work phone because your battery is about to die?"

I nodded and did just as she suggested. Duane answered and we spoke for a minute or two before I asked if I could call him back. He agreed and I dialled his number from my desk phone. I also pressed the button to record the conversation.

"Lula girl, how have you been?"

"I've been good Duane. I'm calling because I am looking for somebody. She may have transferred there from Atlanta recently."

"Would that be Bethany? She's new and I think she said something about Georgia."

I gave Stephanie the thumbs up so she rushed over to her own cubicle and called the Four Seasons hotel in New York to see if she could talk to Bethany. I on the other hand, stopped recording my conversation with Duane and spend 5 minutes trying to dissuade him from taking a trip to visit. He was an ex-boyfriend that I have stayed friendly with over the years, but I didn't want him hanging around or thinking I wanted to get back together with him. I finally persuaded him that I'd call if I wanted to see him again and got off the phone.

I could still hear Stephanie on the phone so I waited until she was finished. As soon as she hung up, I scooted around the corner and said, "What did you find out?"

She smiled at me and said, "I'm going to share it with Tank. Why don't you come along since it was your idea in the first place? I don't want to have to repeat the story a dozen times if I can avoid it."

I followed Steph to Tank's office. Once inside, Steph started talking. "Lula suggested that we should contact the various other Four Seasons hotels to find out where Bethany transferred to, and since she had a old friend who worked at the New York hotel, she called him and confirmed that Bethany now worked there.

"I then called the front desk and asked to speak to her, and as luck would have it, she answered the phone herself. I explained who I was and why I was calling and she was very forthcoming with information. She told me that the reservation was made in person and a credit card was handed to her to secure the room. I explained that all records of that credit card were no longer in the system and she was a bit perplexed. That must have happened after she left because she wouldn't have been so sloppy.

"She described the two men who made the reservation and one of them sounds a lot like the General. She also mentioned that the General looked nervous and kept looking behind him and all around the lobby. She gave me the date and the time so we might be able to find something on the surveillance footage if Hector has his hands on it yet."

Tank thought for a moment and said, "Steph, why don't you go and find out how Hector is doing. Now that we have a more precise date and time, perhaps he can focus on that. As soon as you find the footage, please let me know."

Steph nodded and walked out of the room leaving me alone with Tank. He smiled up at me and said, "I just received the bank security footage. I'll forward it to you now so you can see if Mrs. Matthews is accompanied by anyone during her trip to the bank."

Tank looked at me funny. I could tell that he wanted to ask me something and I was pretty sure it was related to the fact that I had called Duane. I smiled at him and said, "Yes, it was Duane I called. No, I'm not seeing him anymore. In fact, this is the first time in over a year that I have talked to him and I wouldn't have bothered except for this situation."

Tank looked relieved and said, "I know it's not really any of my business, but I'm glad you aren't seeing him anymore. He wasn't a good guy and you deserve a great guy."

I blushed at Tank's comments and waved as I left his office. I sat at my desk with headphones so I could block out the surrounding noise and focused on the security footage. We knew that she opened her accounts around 11 in the morning, so I watched the early morning footage in fast forward until around 10. I then slowed the speed down so it was slightly faster than real-time and waited for a sign of Mrs. Matthews.

At 10:48, a woman with a large hat and sunglasses approached the desk and was escorted back to some comfortable looking chairs in the waiting area. Moments later, she was joined by an older man who sat right beside her. He didn't touch her, but their interactions looked intimate enough. I paused the footage and riffled through until I found the search on the General. It was clear to me that the man in the footage was not the General, but I had no idea who he was.

I next looked at the photo of Mrs. Matthews. I compared it to the woman on screen and I couldn't be sure, but I didn't think that they were the same person. I resumed the tape and watched as the woman and the man walked to a desk. He handed the man what looked like a cheque and after 15 minutes and a couple of signatures, they were on their way out the door. There was no external footage so I had no idea if they left together, but something about this didn't sit right with me.

I pulled out the folder that contained the financial search on the Matthews' and I couldn't tell based on the information available that the money deposited into the account was from a cheque or not. It just didn't say. I thought that this was a bit fishy so I made a note to ask Steph to contact her friend in the bank to ask. I was surer than ever that there was more to this story than we were aware of, so we had to continue to dig for clues.

I needed to tell somebody what I found so I walked to Tank's office and knocked. I could hear Tank on the phone so I knocked and waited until Tank answered. Instead, he opened the door and motioned for me to follow him.

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Well, not that this chapter is up, I should probably go and get the next one sorted out so I can post it. I can't guarantee when it will be up, but I do promise soon.

L.


	9. Chapter 9

Here's the next chapter. Things are afoot...

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_Tank's POV_

Hector just called. He and Bomber just found something. They're on their way up to the conference room. I heard somebody knock on my door and when I opened it on my way to meet Hector and Stephanie, Lula was standing there with a look on her face that meant she might have something newsworthy to share as well. I motioned for her to follow me and headed to the conference room.

Lula walked behind me and we ran into Steph and Hector at the door. Stephanie was practically bouncing. She had some news and she wanted to share it as soon as possible. I nodded at Hector and said, "Show me what you've got."

Hector connected his laptop to the projector so we call could all see their discovery. Seconds later, the project came to life and we were looking at General Matthews. Stephanie pointed out a few details by saying, "Look at this, he's clearly distressed about something. I think the man beside him is holding a gun or has threatened him in some way."

Lula jumped up and moved closer to the screen. "Whoa, back up. Can you rewind that a little bit please?"

Hector rewound the tape and started from the beginning. Lula concentrated on the screen and moments later, she said, "That's the same guy. He went into a bank and accompanied somebody claiming to be Mrs. Matthews and opened a bank account that contains a lot of money. Something odd is going on here."

I agreed and I looked at Hector and asked in Spanish, "Can you start a facial recognition search for that man? I don't recognise him." Hector agreed and disappeared from the room, leaving the laptop. Next, I looked at Lula and asked, "Why did you say that the person at the bank was _claiming_ to be Mrs. Matthews?"

Lula looked at her hands and said, "She didn't look like the photos we have of Mrs. Matthews. I'm not positive, but I don't think it was her."

I pulled the laptop towards me and accessed the email that contained the bank footage. I brought it up on the screen and then pulled up a photo of Mrs. Matthews. We compared them and we all agreed that they two images just didn't match.

"OK, this is what we have. The General may not be responsible for this whole thing. His wife is being impersonated by another woman and a bank account in her name is out there, incriminating both of them. What we don't know is the identity of the man seen with both General and Mrs. Matthews. We don't know why there is a bank account in Mrs. Matthews name and what it means. In fact, we have more questions now than we have answers."

My only idea was to turn this information over to Ranger and George and hope that they could do something. I was just about to call Ranger when Lula spoke up.

"Tank, maybe we should ask Zip if he knows the identity of this man. His family is close with the General's and they may have crossed paths in the past."

I agreed and stuck my head out of the conference room and caught Junior who was walking past. He agreed to send Zip in and I walked back into the room to join the women and wait. As soon as Zip walked in, he looked up at the screen and said, "Hey, that's Tim West."

I looked at Zip and asked, "Who is Tim West?"

"He's a retired Army Colonel who went into the private sector. He's head of recruitment and special projects for Black Scorpion, the largest private military contractor in the country."

I once again reached out to dial the phone but looked around to see if anyone had any thoughts before I connected the call. Nobody stopped me so I pressed the button and listened to the phone ring.

"Yo."

"Ranger, we have some information."

"Go ahead Tank."

"We think the General is either being coerced or set up. We're not sure which right now. We have footage of the General at the hotel with Tim West. He is clearly in distress but we do not know why. Also, the General's wife has a bank account in her name that has over 3 million dollars in it. We got our hands on the security footage from the bank and the woman on the tape was not Mrs. Matthews. Also, the unknown woman was accompanied by Tim West as well."

"I have never actually met West but I do know who he is. I can't imagine why he'd be targeting me specifically. Get Steph to run a search on West. We need a timeline of his activities and it might be a good idea to try and get some information on West's company."

"Will do. Maybe George can get some information from his friends on the hill as well."

"Good idea. Keep up the good work."

I sat there listening to the dial tone and looked around the room.

"Steph, please run a search on Tim West. Lula, I need you to run a search on his company. We'll meet back here in 2 hours unless something else comes up."

They both nodded and stood to leave. Zip looked at me and asked, "Can you use my help? I can call a few friends who know Tim and might be able to help with the time line."

"Yes, what is your assignment this afternoon?"

"I'm supposed to go on patrol with Binkie in 20 minutes."

"OK, we'll get that switched up with one of the guys on monitor duty. I can take up the slack there and still be available in house if needed. If you find out anything that you think might be important, let me know."

Zip nodded and headed to his desk to make some phone calls.

I walked into the control room and saw Junior standing in the kitchen. "Hey Junior, are you about to start a shift on the monitors?"

When he nodded I said, "Not any more. Please go down to the garage and tell Binkie that you will be joining him for patrol duty today. I need Zip here working on something else. I will cover the monitors for your shift."

Junior nodded and headed to the stairs. After he was gone, I waited for shift change and then joined Zero at the monitors. I could hear snippets of phone conversations from Zip, Stephanie and even Lula, but I wasn't able to focus on any of them. There was simply too much other noise in the room.

Hector came up 20 minutes later with confirmation that the man in question was definitely Tim West. He also handed me another piece of paper that made me do a literal double-take. I couldn't believe what I was looking at. I scanned the room and found Bobby just emerging from the stairs.

"Brown, I need you to relieve me on monitors. I will find a more suitable replacement for you as soon as I can. I need to follow up on something for the Boss Man."

Bobby grimaced but did what he was told. I looked at my watch and knew it was too soon for the searches to be finished but I needed answers for some specific questions. I interrupted Steph and Lula and asked them to follow me to the meeting room. Hector and Zip also joined us. Once we were seated I said, "We have 100% confirmation that Tim West was at both the hotel and the bank. We also have a tentative id for the woman, but I need to know a bit more information before I present this to Ranger.

"Has West made any trips recently? Does he travel a lot? Where does he go and where does he stay when he is there. Steph, I need you to look at his financials to find out if there are any charges on his credit cards or cash withdrawals that will indicate his travels. There is no way that we're moving forward with this until we know for sure that the identification is correct. The recognition scan only gave us a 60% chance that the identification is correct, so we're not sure. As of now, only Hector and I know who this person is, and it will stay that way until we have at least two more pieces of corroborating evidence.

"Lula, since the bank was in D.C., this woman would have had to stay somewhere. Look to see if there are any hotel records for Mrs. Matthews. I doubt they would have used that name, but check for West as well. He lives in D.C. as does Mrs. Matthews, so it makes little sense for either of them to need a hotel room, but maybe they slipped up.

"I will be back on monitor duty so if you find something, please bring it to me there. Please be discreet because this will be a difficult situation if it is true. Dismissed."

Everyone stood and started to make their way out of the room when Lula said, "Tank, if this is as delicate as you say, wouldn't it be better for us to work in here? That way our phone conversations or our screens aren't open to anyone walking by."

This was a good idea so I replied, "Good point Lula. Hector, can you help the ladies get set up in here?"

I left Hector, Zip and the ladies to get back to work and went to let Brown off monitor duty. The look on Bobby's face when I told him I would take over was a combination of relief and joy. I sat down to watch the monitors and thought about what would happen if the woman really was who facial recognition suggested it might be.

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There is more to come. Let me know how you're liking it so far. Is there enough suspense for you?


	10. Chapter 10

Oooh.. the suspense. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

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_Stephanie's POV_

I was working on the Tim West Search and Lula was working on the Black Scorpion search. Both were in progress so we both moved onto the other information Tank needed. I pulled up West's financials and printed them off so I could go over them on paper. There were about 50 pages to go through so I dug in and got started.

Lula made a few phone calls and after about 20 minutes of talking, she thanked the person she was talking to and returned to her search on Black Scorpion. A few minutes later, Lula's phone rang and she had a very short conversation. She checked her email, confirmed something to the person on the phone and smiled. Somehow, she ended up with a list of guests from the more popular hotels in Washington.

I looked at her and asked, "How did you get that? Most hotels quote guest privacy and all that other shit when you ask them for their guest lists."

Lula grinned and said, "I have a cousin who works for a senator. She happened to be at a conference in a hotel. During her break, she walked to the front desk and asked to use one of their computers to check an email from her boss. They all knew her boss could be a grumpy bastard so they pointed her to an unused computer in the corner. Most of the hotels are networked together so she just did a guest dump and emailed it to me."

I was shocked at her ingenuity and quick mind. Lula really did have a knack for this. I smiled at her and said, "Great job. Tank and Ranger will be impressed."

I returned to my printout and started scanning out-of-state purchases or charges. I ignored those from D.C., Maryland and Virginia because I wasn't sure where he lived yet and all were possible for a Washington job. That left me with charges from New York, Georgia and Florida. I looked again and saw that the charges in Atlanta matched the dates that Lester was kidnapped. Next, the dates in New York didn't match anything I could recall, except that they occurred while Ranger was last in the wind.

I moved on to the Florida charges and noticed a pattern. It looked like West travelled to Miami every 3-4 weeks and stayed for a few days at a time. He always stayed at the same hotel on the beach.

Lula jumped in her chair across from me and I looked up, thoughts of the warms sands on a Miami beach were lost as I listened to what Lula found. Before either of us had a chance, Zip was up and running for the control room. He and Tank returned in less than 2 minutes.

Lula looked up at them and said, "I reviewed a list of guests from hotels around D.C. and one name in particular stands out to me. I thought it a bit odd, so I went back and it turns out that this person has stayed at this hotel frequently over the last year and the bill was always paid by West."

Tank looked at Lula with a raised eyebrow. Instead of telling her who it was, she just handed him a piece of paper and he nodded. He looked around the room and said, "I want a search performed on this woman as soon as possible. Financials, the works. If she is behind all of this, Ranger is not going to be happy."

Tank looked directly at me and asked, "Have you found anything in West's financials?"

I handed him the page from his credit card with the highlighted hotel stays in Miami. I said, "West is separated from his wife. She moved to Miami a few months ago so perhaps his trips are to visit her."

Tank shook his head and said, "Please find me when the searches are done. I need to review them before calling the Boss."

Tank left and Lula and I continued to hurry the searches along. Two hours later, we walked out of the conference room via the printer and went looking for Tank. He was sitting in front of the monitors and jumped up when he saw us. He looked around for somebody to take over on the monitors when Lula volunteered. Tank thanked her and he motioned for me to follow him to his office.

Once inside, I handed the search results to Tank. He spent the next 20 minutes reading each of the searches. Lula joined us when he was just closing the last folder. He looked up at her and she said, "The next shift just arrived. I thought I might be able to help here."

Tank nodded and returned his focus to the papers in front of him. He looked up at me and asked, "If I put you in contact with RangeMan's lawyer, do you think you could explain the situation adequately? We need to get some advice on how to proceed with this."

I was confused and asked, "Isn't George with Ranger? Why not call him there?"

Tank's blank face remained and he said, "George specialises in criminal law. We have another lawyer, actually, a whole firm who deals with corporate law and anything else we need. I have their number in my office. I'll email it to you and you can contact them on Ranger's behalf."

"How can I talk to them on Ranger's behalf? Is that allowed?"

Tank smiled slightly and said, "Ranger has you listed as a medical and legal power of attorney. This means that you can make decisions for him when he's unable to do so. I am also listed, but I have a feeling that you will be able to convey the facts better than I could. You are a little closer to the situation and you have better people skills. As soon as you talk to the lawyer, I think we'll have enough information to inform Ranger."

I nodded and looked around at Lula and Zip. They were both watching me with looks of trepidation. Lula smiled at me and said, "Ranger trusts you Steph, he trusts that you will do what's best for him."

Zip nodded in agreement so I sat down and waited for the email from Tank.

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The identity of the woman will be revealed in the next chapter.. updates soon. Let me know what you think about the story.


	11. Chapter 11

Thanks for hanging in there. I'm sorry that this has taken longer than usual, but I've been busy and I wanted to go over it a few times before posting to make sure it made sense.

Enjoy!

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_Tank's POV_

I can't believe this is happening. Stephanie talked to the lawyer and gave her a list of actions that Ranger needed to take. The lawyer would put the paperwork together and have it faxed over by the end of the day.

I was putting off calling Ranger and everyone involved knew it. This news would anger and devastate him. I feared the rage this would invoke in my friend could potentially be catastrophic. Hopefully Stephanie would be able to calm him a little. I walked out of my office and waved to Lula, Stephanie and Zip. I motioned for them all to follow me back into my office. Once everyone was inside, I turned on the speaker and dialled the safe house.

It was very early in the morning, so when George answered the phone with a very groggy voice, I wasn't surprised. Moments later, Ranger's breathless voice came on the line.

"What's up Ranger, you sound out of breath?"

"I was in the basement with Lester. We were sparring, trying to work off a bit of excess energy. We lost track of time. It seems that we were at it for several hours. It was dark when we started and I can see the sun fighting to start a new day. What news have you got?"

"Well, we have news and it's not good. We know who is behind this but we don't know why exactly."

"Explain Tank."

I sighed and continued. "It appears that West is having an affair and he and his mistress are in this together. We still don't know what they hope to achieve, but it can't be good."

There was silence for moment before Ranger asked, "What woman? Who would want to force me to sign another contract? It makes no sense."

I grimaced and said, "It's your ex-wife Ranger. She's the one having an affair with West. She accompanied West to a D.C. bank and opened an account in the General's wife's name. We can only conclude that they are using that account to incriminate him and blackmail him for some purpose or another. West was also with the General when he was in Atlanta during Lester's kidnapping. At this time, we are unsure of why she is involved. My only guess is that she's hoping another mission might result in a bit of a windfall for her."

The venom in Ranger's voice was clear for us all to hear. "Why on earth would she think I would leave her anything in my will? Anything I planned to leave for Julie would be in a trust so Rachel had no access to it. Why would Rachel do this? It makes no sense?"

"I'm not sure Ranger, but it might have something to do with your new relationship with Bomber. Rachel might see Stephanie as competition for the money she expects to get. If you retire, there is less of a chance that your will would be needed.

"I have already contacted the Miami office. They are tailing both Rachel and West. Silvio is also running a more in-depth search on Rachel and it should be finished by later this afternoon. Anything suspicious will be passed along. I'm pretty sure you are no longer in danger from the General, but you might want to keep a low profile anyway. I have no idea if they are even aware that you are still alive."

Ranger was silent again and we all heard him take a deep breath. Finally, he said, "Is Stephanie there?"

She leaned toward the speaker and said, "I'm here Ranger, what do you need?"

"You, I need your help more than ever before. Can you fly down to Miami? Take a commercial flight and hire a car. Take a satellite phone and call when you land. I am almost positive that you will have a tail as soon as you leave the airport. We might actually be able to use that to our advantage. When you spot your tail, call me and we'll work out what to do then."

Steph looked a bit nervous and said, "OK. What do you need me to do?"

Ranger was silent for a moment and said, "I'll tell you once you get there, I still need to work out the details of the plan. Once you're done in Miami, I want you to head up to D.C."

She nodded and said, "OK, I'll call when I get to Miami and you can fill me in. On a separate note, I talked to Dan Perry today. He says that you need to sign some paperwork. I'll bring it with me. The search that Silvio is running should be done by the time I get there. I'll take a look at it to see if anything jumps out at me. I'll see you soon Ranger."

While Steph was on the phone, called Ella and asked her to pack a bag for Stephanie as quickly as possible. I also booked her on a flight to Miami that was leaving in just under three hours. I printed her boarding pass and handed it to her when she got off the phone, indicating that she needed to hurry.

She took the paper, ran up the stairs, and came down 5 minutes later with her bag in hand. Lester drove her to the airport, and once she was out of the building, I called Ranger back to find out the plan.

"Hey, I'm sure you already have a plan for Bomber. What is it?"

"I asked Ella to put Julie's birthday present in Steph's bag. She will deliver it to Julie and see if Rachel says or does anything out of character. After that, I'll get her to fly to D.C. I need to see her. It will make this whole nightmare a little more bearable."

I smiled at Ranger's confession. It's not often that Ranger bears his soul, and I wasn't about to tease him about it. I asked, "Do you want me to book a flight for Bomber to D.C.?"

"Yeah. Get her on the last one out tonight. She'll need a bit of rest I'm sure and I don't know how long she'll stay at Rachel's. It will also give Silvio time to finish his search."

"Will do. I'll send the boarding pass to the Miami office for her."

"Thanks Tank. Thanks for everything that you've done for me over the past week."

"No worries Ranger. You'd have done the same for me and you know it. We are all working our asses off trying to bring an end to this fiasco. Bomber and Lula have been instrumental. Now that Bomber is gone, I'm going to have to keep encouraging Lula. I think she feeds off Steph and she'll be missing her while she's gone."

I could hear Ranger mumble something in the background and then he said, "I'll tell you what, as soon as I get back, we'll take the ladies out somewhere as a thanks for all of their hard work."

I smiled at the thought and realised that it sounded a lot like a double date. I'd have to do something before then to progress a relationship with Lula so the double date wasn't so awkward. I wished Ranger luck and told him to call if he needed anything.

As soon as I got off the phone, I wanted to pull up the internal surveillance cameras to find out where Lula was at this moment. I wanted to talk to her. I looked at my watch and saw that it was only 6. Lula would normally be in the gym at 6:30, but since she was up all night, I wasn't sure if she'd make it. If not, I wouldn't complain about it. She's been working hard and needs her rest.

I was also tired, but I also needed to relieve a bit of tension and stress. The gym was better for that than sleep, so I headed down to the gym to get changed. When I came out of the changing room, I saw Lula on the mats stretching. I walked over to her and said, "If you're tired, you can have the morning off to catch up on your sleep."

She looked up at me, smiled and asked, "Are you taking the morning off? You were up just as long as I was. Besides, somebody once told me that a good workout can rejuvenate even the most tired person. I figured I'd give it a try."

I held out a hand when she was finished stretching and helped her to her feet. We then walked together over to the treadmill and we talked a little until we both got too winded to carry on a conversation. It was a nice companionable silence. I kept looking over at her and noticed that the gym clothes that Lula bought for her the previous weekend were already a little loose on her.

I noticed that she was concentrating on what she was doing so hard that she ignored the sweat that was dripping down her nose. I also noticed how much I liked her plain hairstyle. It suited her perfectly. I was grinning as I watched her and groaned when Bobby appeared and made a comment.

"What are you smiling about big guy?"

I glared at him and said, "I'm just in a good mood. I'm tired and stressed and a little giddy. Is that a crime?"

Bobby laughed and hopped up on the treadmill on the other side of Lula. He looked at her settings and said, "You've increased your speed I see Lula, great job. Pretty soon you'll be running those 5 miles."

Lula looked at him with raised eyebrows and said, "When I'm able to run 5 miles, I'll be sure to do it outdoors when the weather permits. I'm not sure I can handle the monotony of this treadmill much longer."

Bobby grinned and said, "That's probably a good idea. It's easy to count down the time and distance left on a treadmill. Sometimes that can make the workout seem much longer than it really is. Running outdoors removes that obstacle and sometimes results in a more satisfying workout."

I watched as Lula looked down at her time and said, "I agree. I see the distance tick down and the time increase. I try to not look at them, but sometimes it's hard not to. Talking helps though, until it becomes too hard."

Bobby pointed up to the television in front of Lula. He then handed her the remote control and said, "Maybe there's something on here that will hold your attention."

Lula smiled and flipped through the channels as she looked for something to watch. I was quite surprised when she stopped and watched a program about a zoo in New Zealand. Every single person in the gym was completely mesmerised by this show. I don't know what it was about it, perhaps the accents of the presenters or the fact that it was a show targeted towards children, but we all watched in rapt attention.

There was only 20 minutes left in that episodes and just as the credits came on for the second episode, Lula's machine went into cool down mode. This caused her to lose her step for a second. She quickly righted herself and looked down to see what happened.

The look on her face with priceless. She managed to finish her 30 minutes on the treadmill and the time flew by when she watched the animals at the zoo. She beamed at Bobby who said, "I think Lula should be in charge of the remote control from now on. I've never seen that program before and I loved it. Ooh, look, it's on again!"

I looked up and smiled as I followed Lula to the resistance machines. We watched the program as we did our weight training, and when the 2nd episode was over, Lula was ready for the free weights and matt work that Bobby had her and Bomber doing. I joined Lula and since there wasn't a 3rd episode of _The Zoo_, we talked in between bouts of very loud music.

By the time Lula was finished with her routine, I was feeling great. We talked and laughed and I realised that I really did like this version of Lula. I liked her before, but this new confidence and relaxed version was even more enjoyable.

I walked out of the gym after waving good bye to the guys and met Lula at the stairs. She was just about to open the door when I said, "Lula, do you have a minute?"

She nodded and let go of the door. I pulled it open and let her go first and as we descended the steps to the 4th floor I said, "I know things between us ended rather awkwardly when we were dating." I paused for a moment to see if Lula had anything to say, but when she stayed silent, I continued. "I was wondering if you'd be interested in going on a date with me. One that starts with me picking you up and ends with me dropping you off, maybe with a kiss good night?"

Lula stopped and since she was three steps above me, she could look me almost straight in the eye. She stared at me for a long while before saying, "I'd like that Tank. I know the whole engagement things got out of hand last time around and I'm 100% to blame there. You were just so nice to me and I wasn't used to that. I freaked a bit and I have regretted it ever since."

I grinned, she grinned and as I walked her to her door I said, "I'll let you know the date and time. It might have to wait until this whole Ranger thing is sorted, but I don't want to wait too long."

I watched her walk into her apartment and went into Lester's to shower and change. I have been staying onsite ever since Lester went missing, but I had to run back to my house twice a day to feed my cats. Ella helped out when I couldn't and at the moment, I wanted to hold my cats so after I changed, I made sure Bobby knew I was leaving and headed home.

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I do apologise if the next chapter takes a while. I've re-written it about 3 times and I'm still not happy with the way it turns out. I will get it up as soon as I can. Encouragement is always welcome. Thanks.


	12. Chapter 12

And... here's the next chapter. This one was hard to write because I really wanted the interactions between Stephanie and Rachel to be full of witty banter and amusing repartee. I came up with this instead.

I hope you enjoy.

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_Stephanie's POV_

Since it was a domestic flight and I wasn't checking luggage, I was able to make my flight to Miami with a few minutes to spare. Tank arranged for me to sit in first class and it was sparsely populated. Nobody was sitting beside me or behind me so I felt it was safe enough to pull out the search results I had on Tim West and re-read them. Nothing new came to light, other than the sudden realisation that the hotel in Miami was just down the beach from where Rachel and Ron lived. I knew I recognised the address of the hotel earlier, but I hadn't put two and two together at the time. In the end, Lula had my back and she figured it out so I don't need to dwell on my failure too much.

I put the papers away when the pilot announced that we were 10 minutes from landing. I couldn't get off the plane fast enough, but the people in front of me chose today to take their sweet time. I was losing patience with an old lady who was hobbling along trying to carry her suitcase and balance her cane so I offered to take her case. The young man behind me seemed to get the hint and he took the case instead and I was able to get ahead.

I got my hire car and left the airport and drove around for a little while until I noticed the same silver hatchback following me. To confirm that I wasn't seeing things, I took the exit and then turned into a shopping centre. I pulled out a map and then after a few minutes, I pulled out again and saw the same car on my tail. I pulled out my phone and dialled Ranger, just as instructed.

"Hey, I'm in Miami and there's at least one car following me. Where do you want me to go?"

"Does your car have GPS Babe?"

"No, but my phone does."

"Good, enable that and go to this address."

I recognised that address and said, "Why am I going there?"

"Look in your bag Babe. Ella packed a birthday present for Julie and I'd like you to deliver it. While you're there, I need you to find out as discretely as possible what she knows about my current whereabouts. If she asks why you are there, tell her that you're in Miami on RangeMan business and that you're staying in my apartment.

"If she asks you when you saw or spoke to me last, tell her that I left town and that you haven't heard from me since. I need her to think that her plan, whatever it is, is working."

"OK. I'll talk to you when I leave and am heading to RangeMan."

I got off the phone and plugged the address into my phone and went to give Julie her birthday present from Ranger. I parked the car on the street and took a deep breath telling myself, "Here we go."

I was nervous as I stood in front of the door waiting for someone to answer it. I was beginning to think that nobody was home. After another minute, I sighed and turned to return to my car. As I reached out to open my door, another car approached and turned into the driveway. As the car stopped to wait for the garage door to open, a door opened and I could hear, "Julie, get back here!"

Instead of listening to her mother, I watched as Julie jumped out of the car and launched herself at me. She squealed when she hugged me and looked around expectantly. She frowned when she saw that I was alone and asked, "Where's Ranger?"

I smiled at her and said, "He's out of town on business. He really wanted to be here himself, but you know your dad and his work commitments. I've come on his behalf to bring you your birthday present."

The present in my hand caused Julie to squeal again. By now, Rachel, Ron and their two children came out to greet me. Ron shook my hand and Rachel sort of started at me with a look of disbelief on her face. Ron suggested that we all move inside so Julie could open her present. I nodded and took Julie's outstretched hand and followed her inside.

As soon as we were all seated in the living room, Julie opened her present to find three games for her Xbox. At one point or another, she had mentioned all three of them to Ranger during phone and Skype conversations over the past month or so. Ranger did well as she was very happy with the contents. Rachel on the other hand, looked annoyed. Julie missed Rachel's expression and hugged me before leading her younger siblings into the other room to try out their new games.

As soon as the girls were gone, Rachel turned to me and asked, "What has Carlos gotten himself into now? Or is he simply too busy to bother visiting his own daughter on her birthday?"

I just stared at her as I tried to digest her meaning and her tone of voice. Ron noticed it as well and said, "I'm going to get us something to drink and check on the kids. I'll be back in a few minutes."

As soon as Ron left the room, Rachel continued talking in her angry voice. "Knowing Carlos, he's either gotten himself arrested or blown up. Which is it?"

I stuttered in my reply. I finally managed to say, "Ranger is just busy with RangeMan business. He left town about a week ago and I haven't seen him since. Tank just asked me to drop off Julie's present while I'm in town for some training at the Miami RangeMan office."

Rachel had a smug look on her face when she said, "Of course you wouldn't know where he was or what he did. You're probably not that close with Carlos. Whenever he comes here to visit Julie, he tells me everything that is going on. We're very close."

Before Rachel was able to elaborate on how close she and Ranger were, Ron returned with a tray. He placed a pitcher of iced tea and two glasses on the table in front of us. I looked up at him and was going to ask him why he wasn't going to join us when he said, "I have some work to do out in the garage. I'll leave you two ladies to talk. Make sure you stop by before you leave Stephanie."

I nodded and smiled at Ron. He glanced at Rachel and then left us alone. Rachel poured herself a glass of iced tea and left me to pour my own. I did so, and as soon as I took a sip, Rachel said, "I know what you're trying to do. You're here trying to undermine my relationship with Carlos. No matter what you do, you won't be able to lure him out of my life and into yours. We have a daughter together and that's a bond that nobody can take away."

I struggled to swallow the liquid in my mouth so I didn't spit it all over Rachel. It sounded to me like the words coming out of her mouth were rehearsed and that she didn't really believe them. I looked at her with wide eyes and said, "Why on earth would you think I was trying to get between you and Ranger? He's my boss. Besides, there's nothing between you and Ranger except a history."

Rachel looked at me like I was a moron and said, "Ha, I know that the two of you have been spending a lot of time together and that you've ended things with that hot cop you were dating."

I rolled my eyes and said, "Ranger just hired me to work at RangeMan fulltime. I've spent a lot of time with him as he trained me and helped me tie up the loose ends from my previous job. As I said, he's my boss."

Rachel sneered at me and said, "I know there's more than that between you, or at least on your side. Why else would you lure him up a mountain and then force him to take a stupid romantic horse-drawn carriage ride?"

I had to think fast here. If I pissed her off, she might shut down. If I denied everything, she might also shut down. In the end, I decided to say something that was feasible, although a complete lie.

"We were under cover. A well known drug-dealer lives near the restaurant we visited. We kept up the pretence of a couple to avoid suspicion."

Rachel looked triumphant at my explanation. She smiled and said, "I didn't think Carlos would go for a woman like you. You're a disaster waiting to happen. It's a shame because you'll never be able to experience what it's like to truly be with a man like that. He's dynamite in bed and you'll just never have that privilege."

I was having a hard time keeping a straight face at her comment. I couldn't leave it alone and said, "I hate to disappoint you Rachel, but I have experienced the softer side of Ranger. He's not into relationships and I went back to the cop, so it doesn't really matter.

Rachel's smile turned into an angry scowl. She looked like she was about to explode, but she surprised me when she whispered instead of yelled. "It doesn't really matter now. Neither of us can have him when he's dead. He went and got himself blown up."

I tried my best to play along with her and said, "How do you know that?"

She smiled triumphantly and said, "I have a friend who told me that he was arrested and taken to a temporary holding facility. Carlos tried to escape and set off some sort of explosion that killed him."

I pretended to be shocked, put my glass down, stood and said, "I need to leave. Could you please get Julie so I can say goodbye?"

Rachel was beaming as she walked down the hall to get Julie, thinking that she upset me so much that I needed to get out of there. Moments later, Julie returned. I hugged her as I explained that I needed to leave. Julie looked a little sad and asked if I could come back. I said, "I'll see what I can do. I am only in town until tonight, but if I come back to Miami, I'll stop by. I'll call first so you know to expect me."

Julie hugged me one last time and whispered, "Give Ranger a hug and a kiss for me. Thank him for my present and tell him that I hope to see him soon."

I smiled down at Julie and nodded. I noticed Rachel's look of victory as she overheard her daughter. Rachel walked me to the door and when Julie was out of earshot she said, "I know Carlos' death will be hard on Julie, but I'm sure his money will make up for it. We'll be able to do anything we want once we get our hands on it. Goodbye Miss Plum. I hope to never see you again."

Rachel closed the door in my face, causing me to laugh at her triumphant attitude. As I walked down the path from the front door I noticed that the garage door was open. Ron was sitting on a stool in front of a workbench doing something I couldn't see. I knocked on the edge of the door and said, "I'm heading out now Ron. I just wanted to say good bye before I left."

Ron turned and smiled, walked towards me and said, "Thanks Stephanie. Could you do me a favour once you get back to RangeMan?"

I nodded and said, "Sure, how can I help?"

"Could you please ask Carlos to give me a call? Not Rachel, me specifically. I need to talk to him about something. It's not urgent per say, but the sooner, the better."

I agreed, shook his hand and returned to the car. I could see Rachel looking watching me through the front window, so I smiled and waved at her and left. I started the car and was less than three blocks away when I noticed my tail again. I wasn't sure if I needed to ditch the tail or keep it on me so I called Ranger.

"Yo"

"Hey, I just left Ron and Rachel's house."

"Did you find out anything helpful?"

"I found out a lot of things, but I'll get to that in a minute. I still have my tail. Should I worry about that and try to get rid of it?"

Ranger was silent for a minute and said, "Why don't you pretend to try and lose them and just head to RangeMan. If you try to lose them and fail, it might make them over confident in other areas."

I agreed and then said, "OK, now let me tell you about my visit with your ex-wife and daughter."

I paused for a moment to collect my thoughts and said, "Let me pull over so I can talk without concentrating on driving."

I pulled into a strip mall and turned off the car so I could relax while I spoke to Ranger. I could hear sounds in the background so I said, "Are you ready Ranger?"

"Yeah Babe, I'm just moving into another room so I can hear you better. The guys were a little noisy in the kitchen."

"OK, here goes. Rachel definitely is involved. I don't know if she meant to let me know, but we were being followed in Trenton and she mentioned our carriage ride. She also told me, after several minutes of explaining why you were with her instead of me, that it no longer mattered because you were dead. For some reason, the whole interchange seemed rehearsed. It was as if she was just repeating words that were given to her.

"When I asked her how she knew you were dead, she told me that you were arrested and that you were killed trying to escape. She also said something that made me think she was expecting to get all of your money now that you are dead."

I could hear Ranger breathing hard. I knew this meant that he was angry, so I waited until he spoke. I was giving him the time he needed to think or deal with the shock of whole situation. After a few minutes of silence, Ranger finally said, "She actually told you that she was going to get my money?"

I confirmed this and told him what Rachel had told me. He laughed when I told him about my comment about his softer side because we both knew that there was no soft side to Ranger. When he stopped laughing he said, "George was informed through the necessary legal channels that I was declared dead yesterday. No paperwork has been filed yet, but I will need to act soon before this goes much further. Tank has arranged a flight for you to D.C. later tonight. You can head to RangeMan now to get some rest and then go and catch your flight. I'll get one of the guys to pick you up at the airport on our end."

I smiled and said, "Does this mean that I'll get to see you tonight?"

I could hear Ranger smile when he said, "Yes Babe, and I can't wait. It will be very late, but I'll be here waiting for you. I also spoke to Tank and he said that Silvio has left a package for you in the apartment. It's the search results on Rachel and your boarding pass."

I smiled at the thought of seeing Ranger and then remembered something. "Ranger, I spoke to Ron just before I left and he asked if you could call him. Not the house, but his cell phone. He sounded like he had something to discuss with you and it sounded kind of urgent."

"OK, thanks Babe, I'll call him tomorrow when I know he's at work and away from Rachel."

"That's probably a good idea. Speaking of ideas, I also have one I'd like to mull over for a bit. I'll tell you about it when I get there. See you soon Batman."

"You too Wonder Woman. And Steph?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Ranger hung up before I was able to reply. It always frustrated me when he hung up on me, but this time, I was more disappointed. I wanted to tell him that I loved him too. I took a few deep breaths and pulled back into traffic and made my way to RangeMan. I saw my tail and decided to drive around a little bit in an attempt to lose the tail. At one point, I thought I actually had lost the tail. Unfortunately, they picked me up a few minutes later, but I was getting tired and I ignored it as I pulled into the RangeMan garage.

I made my way from the garage directly to the apartment on the top floor without stopping to speak to anyone. I was exhausted and I only had a few hours before I had to leave again. As promised, Silvio had left a packet on the counter. I didn't bother to read it, I just put it on top of my bag so I didn't forget it and walked into the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed. Before I fell asleep, I set the alarm. I would worry about the rest of my journey once I had a short rest.

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More to come.. Reviews welcome, even encouraged. :)


	13. Chapter 13

Thanks for all of your patience and sorry for the delay. For once, it's not my fault. I uploaded this chapter but was unable to post it due to an error on the FanFiction site.

Now that it's up, enjoy and let me know how you're enjoying things.

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_Lester's POV_

Ranger called a meeting after his conversation with Beautiful. He filled us in on what she told him, and afterward, he went down to the basement and started punching the cinderblock walls without gloves or protection of any sort. The rest of the guys had never seen him like this so I was dispatched to deal with him.

Instead of discouraging him from hitting the wall, I egged him on. I told him that he was a pussy and that he was no match for the General or whoever was wrecking his life. After three punches to the wall, he turned to me and started swinging in my direction. I knew it wouldn't be pleasant for me, but it would be easier on Ranger's hands if he hit me instead of a cinder-block wall. I dodged or blocked most of his swings, and after about 20 minutes, he just stopped. He looked at me and he looked down at his hands and sort of collapsed onto the floor.

I rubbed my sore jaw, one of the places that he managed to get by my defences with a well aimed jab. I looked down at him and sat plopped down beside him. "We'll figure out what's going on Ranger. They won't get away with it."

Ranger nodded and said, "I just can't believe that Rachel would get involved in something like this. I gave her and Julie a huge monthly allowance. She wanted for nothing. I just don't get it. I also don't understand why Tim West is involved or how the General could turn on me. Even if he was being blackmailed, I would have thought he would stand up for me."

I didn't really know what to say to alleviate his distress so I just sat there in silence with him until he either decided to talk or to get up. After what seemed like an hour, Ranger turned to me and asked, "I put my life in danger for this country. I work almost 18 hours a day to pay for my daughter to have a good life. What have I been doing wrong that those two things could so easily be used against me?"

I shook my head and said, "I don't know Ranger. It sounds to me that somebody is pulling the strings trying to manipulate you into doing something against your will. At this point in time, West is the only person I see capable of pulling the General and Rachel's strings. Are you sure you don't know who he is?"

Ranger looked at me and I could tell that he was thinking despite his blank face. He looked up and around the room as if he was looking for something to spark a thought or memory. After a few minutes, he sighed and said, "I know the name, but that's probably because he works for Black Scorpion. RangeMan was asked to work with them a few times but I always turned them down. I don't see that as a reason for him to go after me."

Ranger was silent for a few more minutes before asking "Did RangeMan send over the search results? Maybe they will spark a memory or provide some additional information or something."

I shrugged and said, "Dunno, let's go find out. You can ice your knuckles as well. They look pretty beat up."

Ranger looked down at his hands and grimaced at the blood caked on his knuckles. I directed him to the bathroom and I went looking for the laptop that we were using to communicate with Tank and the RangeMan offices.

I walked into the sitting room where George was working. He had papers spread out all over the coffee table and the sofa. I looked around the room and caught George's eye. He said, "At this point in time, I have no idea what's going on. I hope Miss Plum has a good idea up her sleeve. A confession or proof of hers or West's involvement would be quite helpful."

I smiled and said, "If I know Beautiful, she'll come up with something that sounds absurd but will actually work. She had a knack for that sort of thing."

George seemed to accept my words at face value and returned to his work. I picked up the laptop and took it into the kitchen where Ram was busy cooking something that smelled delicious. Ranger distracted me from the food when he came in and asked the status of my findings.

"The laptop is just booting up now. We'll know momentarily."

Ranger nodded and looked towards Ram and said, "What smells so good?"

"It's 5-bean chilli. It's almost ready to eat. I just need to add a few last minute spices."

I nodded and said, "Great, we'll go over the search results with the whole team after we eat."

Ram shouted that the food was ready and the men descended like a herd of elephants. Ram dished up bowls and handed out spoons as everyone gathered around the table. After the bowls were empty and cleared away, Ranger read out excerpts from the search results. Everyone there was familiar with his name, but nobody knew the man personally.

I watched Fiona as she listened to our conversation. After we were out of ideas, she said, "Do we have West's military history? Maybe it will reveal something that a civilian search missed."

Ranger stared at her and asked, "I will have to go through legal channels to get that. I will ask George to see if he can pull some strings." She nodded and sat back watching and listening to us throw ideas around.

I read over Ranger's shoulder and said, "Call the Trenton office and see if Zip is around. He knew who West was based on his photo, so he might have some insight into who he is and how he might know you."

Ranger nodded and pulled the phone towards him and dialled, leaving it on speaker.

"Yo."

"Hey Tank. Is Zip still in the office?"

"I think so. Do you want to talk to him?"

"Please."

We waited for a moment and then Zip's voice came on the line.

"What can I do for you Ranger?"

"Zip, can you tell me everything you know about Tim West and how you know him?"

Zip spent the next 10 minutes telling us about how West was a junior officer under his father. He was also good friends with Zip's brother Ziggy who was killed a few years ago. West stayed in touch with Zip and even offered him a job at Black Scorpion when he took over. Zip turned him down politely because he liked working for RangeMan. In the end, Zip was unable to give us any information that we didn't already know.

After getting off the phone with Trenton, we talked until it got late. At 10:30, Ranger turned to me and said, "Stephanie's plane is due to land in about 20 minutes. Can you please go pick her up? You'll have to take the scenic route back to ensure that you aren't followed. An extra set of eyes might not be a bad idea either. Take a partner and bring her back safe."

I nodded and looked around the table at the men sitting there. They all looked exhausted from the hectic schedule we were following to ensure the safe house remained safe. In the end, Ranger recognised my dilemma and turned to Fiona and asked, "LeBlanc, would you mind accompanying Santos? He needs a fresh pair of eyes and the rest of the guys are nearing exhaustion."

Fiona agreed and we took one of the unmarked SUVs and drove to the airport. We drove in silence for most of the way. When we neared the airport, Fiona looked at me and said, "I'm looking forward to meeting this woman. You all talk about her like she's larger than life or more than human."

I smiled at Fiona and said, "There's just something about her that makes us all want to spend time with her and be her friend. I love her more than I thought was possible."

I saw the look on Fiona's face and realised how my statement sounded. I thought an elaboration would be helpful. "I'm not in love with her. I love her like a sister. I'm protective of her and I would do anything to keep her safe."

The expression on Fiona's face softened a little and said, "Ranger doesn't love her like a sister, does he?"

I laughed and said, "No. They've loved each other almost as long as they've known each other. They're both terrified of commitment, so it's taken them this long to get together. It's unfortunate timing really. This whole situation is single-handedly keeping them apart and they are both frustrated and a bit depressed as a result."

Fiona snickered and said, "Yeah, I saw Ranger's hands after your little exchange in the basement."

We parked in the short-stay parking lot and headed inside to wait for Beautiful. As soon as she saw me, she smiled and walked into my open arms. "Lester, I'm so glad to see you. I was so worried when you were missing."

I smiled down at her and said, "It's thanks to you that I'm here Beautiful. You helped find me."

I watched her shake her head as she said, "Actually, it was Lula. She did really well. I'm so proud of her. She's much more resourceful and way smarter than we ever gave her credit for before."

I smiled and said, "I'll be sure to thank her when I see her then."

I watched as Stephanie focused her attention on Fiona and realised that I had forgotten to introduce the two women. "Beautiful, let me introduce Fiona LeBlanc, or as I prefer to call her, Firecracker."

I watched Fiona roll her eyes at me and heard Beautiful laugh and say, "I see that Lester has bestowed a nickname upon you already. He has a nasty habit of doing that. Personally, I think it's because he doesn't want to memorise people's names. He's lazy that way."

Fiona laughed as we walked to the car and said, "I suggested the same thing when he first tried to assign one to me. He went through several before he settled on his current one."

I listened in horror as Beautiful and Firecracker spent the entire trip from the airport to the safe house talking about me as if I wasn't there. Eventually, the conversation lulled as Beautiful began to doze in the back seat. Firecracker was smart enough to know that Beautiful was tired and let her sleep as we ran around D.C. to ensure that we were not being tailed.

Firecracker noticed a tail shortly after Steph fell asleep. We lost that tail and then we discovered a second one. Three hours later, after taking sharp turns and backtracking all the way to the airport, we both agreed that we were tail free and headed back to the safe house.

I woke up Beautiful when we arrived and helped her up to the room where Ranger was sleeping. She was quiet going in and I walked Fiona back to where she was sleeping and then crashed on the sofa just outside her room. It had been a long day and I had a feeling that things would only get worse.

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The next chapter will be posted tomorrow or the following date at the latest. I'm still working on it. Thanks for your patience and your encouragements.

L.


	14. Chapter 14

The next chapter has arrived. Let me know how you're liking things so far.

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_Ranger's POV_

Steph's plane was in the air. I knew that there were still several hours until I'd see her again, but I was restless and was finding it hard to sleep. I punched my pillow and rolled over. I was hoping that a change in position would help my mind finally get some much needed rest. I thought about everything that we have learned within the last 24 hours.

Rachel was involved somehow, but I didn't know to what extent or why. I gave her a generous monthly sum that should more than pay for Julie's clothes and hobbies. Rachel had never once complained about the amount of money I sent. She never indicated that it was insufficient or that she needed more. I'd have probably increased the amounts if she told me she needed more.

I remembered how she acted towards me the last time I visited Julie. She seemed a bit more physical than usual. She hugged me longer than usual and she touched me more, but only when Ron wasn't around. Thinking back on this, I wondered if she was trying to manipulate me somehow. Maybe if she got me into bed, she could guilt me into something or other. I was annoyed by her actions and before I finally fell asleep, I wondered what else she was planning.

I must have been tired because I didn't wake up until the sun was shining. The day had started without me, and it was then that I jerked awake realising that Stephanie should be here by now. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her on the other side of my bed. She was still asleep and I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her close to me. I inhaled her scent and relaxed for the first time in days.

I held her close for a long while. The sun was high in the sky before by Babe woke. When she finally opened her beautiful blue eyes, I was smiling widely. "Ranger," she whispered as she blinked and smiled.

"Babe, I'm so glad you're here." I hugged her tightly and only let go when she tried to wiggle out of my arms and said, "Ranger, I need to use the restroom."

I watched as she pulled on one of my sweatshirts. It fell to her knees so she didn't need to put on any pants to wander around the house. She returned a few minutes later and crawled back into bed beside me. She nuzzled up against me and then started talking.

"I have an idea that might help us get some more information."

I raised my eyebrow and Babe continued. "Based on Rachel and Wood's habits over the past few months, they are due for a liaison at their usual Miami hotel in two days. If they keep up their schedule and we go to Miami, we can use that predictability against them. "

She spent the next few minutes explaining her ideas and how they could work to our advantage. We'd confront West and manipulate Rachel. It sounded like it might just work to me.

I hugged my Babe and said, "I'm proud of you Babe. You have given us the makings of a pretty feasible plan. Let's get ready for the day so we can go and fill the guys in on your suggestion and start making our plans. Why don't you shower and I'll go call Ron?"

She nodded and made her way to the bathroom, taking her bag with me. As I watched her walk out of the room, I pulled out my phone and called Ron.

"Hey Ron, it's Carlos Manoso, Stephanie said that you wanted to talk to me. How can I help?"

"Oh hey Carlos, thanks for calling. I wanted to talk about the adoption papers I signed when I adopted Julie. In those papers, you insisted on adding a clause that would protect Rachel and Julie in the event that Rachel and I ever divorced. Well, I will be packing up my belongings and serving Rachel with divorce papers in two days. I found out that she has been having an affair for at least the past 6 months and I cannot in good faith live with a woman like that.

"Because of that clause in the adoption papers, all paternal rights to Julie will revert back to you. After the divorce, I will have the legal right to see my own kids, but not Julie. I was hoping that you would support my request for visitation rights with Julie. I know she's biologically not my daughter, but."

Ron trailed off at that point so I said, "Ron, I would never keep Julie from you. You love her and she loves you. I will definitely ensure that you are able to see her after your divorce."

"Thanks Carlos. I know it's an awkward situation, but I can't go on like this."

"I completely understand Ron, and that's why I hate to ask this of you. Can you hold off for at least 2 or three days to serve Rachel with the papers?

Ron was silent for a moment and replied, "God Carlos, that's asking a lot. Can you tell me why?"

"I can't give you all the details, but the man that Rachel has been seeing is responsible for an attempt on my life. I think Rachel might be involved and is hoping to get her hands on my money. I need you to do your best to pretend that everything is fine between the two of you. When Rachel leaves to meet her lover in 2 days, we will confront him. If Rachel is involved, all of the kids will need you home, more than ever. That's why I need you to postpone serving Rachel with the divorce papers.

Ron sighed and said, "I will hold off, but only for a few days. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help."

I smiled and said, "I only found out about Rachel's affair yesterday. Her plan to get her hands on my money has thrown me for a bit of a loop. I can only imagine what her affair has done to you. I'll do anything I can to help in the aftermath of this situation. Once we have the necessary information, I'll come there personally to fill you and Julie in on this crazy situation."

I got off the phone with Ron and waited for Babe to finish with her shower. She returned moments later and I took my turn in the shower. When I got back to the room, Babe was dressed and ready to go down to start our day. I got dressed as I filled Babe in on my conversation with Ron. Upon reflection, she mentioned that she had noticed something odd with Ron's behaviour towards Rachel. When I was dressed, I led Babe downstairs and into the kitchen. I wasn't surprised to find everyone sitting there waiting for us.

Lester looked up as we walked in and said, "It's a good thing you two made an appearance. I was beginning to wonder if I should go and drag you down myself. Ram has made Brunch. It is ready and we were waiting for you."

I growled at Lester and said, "Just because we don't have a gym doesn't mean I can't call you to the mats Santos."

Lester grinned at me and said, "I don't think you're shoulder is at full strength yet. Perhaps you should let it heal a bit longer before taking me on."

I glared at Lester before looking around at my men and said, "Stephanie explained an idea she had this morning. I'd like to share it with you all now, but first we need something to eat."

I looked at Lester and said, "Can you please contact Trenton and Miami and set up a conference call meeting in 1 hour? I want to explain Steph's idea to the team here and the guys in Trenton before the conference call. Ask Tank to get the key players in the conference room in Trenton in 15 minutes. Ensure that you include Lula. She's been a key player throughout this whole ordeal and I want to make sure that she is included."

Lester nodded and left the room to make his phone calls. Meanwhile, Stephanie hurried through a bowl of cereal and some coffee and then gathered the whole team together so we could explain what we were thinking.

Stephanie and I spent the next 35 minutes explaining our plan. Tank was quite supportive and confirmed that the RangeMan jet was back in Trenton. Tank and as many men as we could spare for 3 or 4 days would fly to D.C., pick us up and then head on towards Miami. Lula would join them because Steph thought she'd be helpful.

The phone conference helped us finalise all of our plans and everyone was given their assignments. Tank, Hector, Lula and Bobby will fly down on the jet, leaving Cal to run RangeMan. They would pick us up in D.C. and we'd then go on to Miami.

In addition to the plan we had already worked out, Lula would play a new and vital role. We would use our RangeMan influence to get her placed on the front desk at the hotel. This would allow us to control the room where Rachel and West were placed. We would ensure that we had complete control over the room as well as comprehensive surveillance capabilities.

We will book several rooms around West's and be able to observe who comes and goes. We will station men in the adjoining room and when it's time, they'll enter West's room using the adjoining door. They will interrogate West and move him to another location if he is uncooperative. My Babe's plan is coming together nicely.

Every person in the safe house was packing up and getting ready to leave. George is currently trying to put everything we discovered into an organised system so it can be easily referenced at a later time. Fiona and Stephanie are helping him with that and I am helping the guys pack the weapons and get the vehicles ready to go to the airport.

I was trying to lift a box that required my arms to stretch fully to their limit, but with my shoulder injury, it was causing me problems. Lester saw my struggle and came and gave me a hand. He looked at me, cocked his head to the side and said, "I never thought I'd see the day where Ranger Manoso needed help."

I growled at Lester and dropped my end of the box. I waited for Lester to drop his end and then took a swing at him. I smiled at him and said, "I need a few bruises in order to make it look like I'm in trouble when I confront Rachel. I doubt you can help, but I'll let you try."

Lester grinned and said, "You're not at full strength there Boss Man, so I'm bound to get in a good punch or two."

"Bring it on lover boy."

Lester laughed and I took the opportunity to take his feet out from under him. Lester was a bit surprised to land on his back, but he rolled over and regained his footing. We circled each other and I taunted him about his playboy days. I could see the way he and LeBlanc were looking at each other over the past few days, so I figured if he hadn't already, he would add her to his long list of conquests.

I even made a comment along those lines which was a good idea in the end because it angered Lester enough that he landed two well aimed punches. One caught me just above the eye, dazing me a little. The second caught me just on the side of the head, causing little to no pain or damage. I kept taunting Lester about Fiona, and we were so focused on each other that we didn't notice the growing audience.

My Babe and Fiona came out to see what all the noise was about and something I said must have hit home because the next thing I knew, I was flat on my back and my head was ringing. I blinked a few times and shook my head before looking around. I could see a furious looking Fiona standing over me and a grinning Lester.

"Ranger, you were knocked out by a girl"

I looked at Fiona and saw the anger in her eyes. I pushed myself off the ground and felt my aching jaw. Babe stepped forward, looked at me, then Fiona and said, "That will do it. You'll have a great bruise on your jaw from where Fiona kicked you. Now apologise to her because you were a bit of a jerk Ranger."

I thought back to the words I was saying. I was trying to taunt Lester. I wasn't trying to offend Fiona, but it appears that she overheard me and was offended. I turned from my Babe's amused face and looked at Fiona. There was anger in her eyes, but her face softened a little when Lester moved closer to her. I was about to open my mouth and beg her forgiveness when she said, "Ranger, I understand what you were doing. You were trying to piss Lester off enough to leave a few bruises on you. Unfortunately, you were using me to rile him up and I didn't like it. You will probably have a nasty bruise on your jaw later, which will work in your favour when convincing your ex-wife that you are seriously injured."

I looked at Fiona and said, "You have one hell of a round-house LeBlanc. I'm truly sorry for my words. You were correct that I was just trying to rile Lester up, but I didn't consider your feelings. I am also grateful for the bruise. It will help with our plan."

Fiona smiled and said, "Anytime. You might also be interested in some additional training that I have. I am able to fabricate burnt skin and other injuries using makeup and prosthetics. If you want, I can add a few so that it looks like you have a close escape from the explosion."

I nodded and said, "That's a great idea LeBlanc. Write down a list of requirements and I'll have one of my men acquire the supplies by the time we get to Miami."

I watched Fiona help Lester to his feet and then walk back into the house to make her list. Lester looked after her and then back at me and grinned. I smiled at him because up until now, I just thought of her as a conquest. Maybe there was more to it than I though. Maybe Lester has found the woman of his dreams.

"Ranger, let me take a look at that jaw of yours."

I turned and let Babe take a look at my face. She took a deep breath when she saw my jaw, meaning it really was bad. She gently ran her finger along my jaw and I flinched. Even with her light touch, I could tell that it might be broken.

"Ranger, I think this might be broken. You should put some ice on it for now. Once we get the answers we need, you should get that looked at."

I looked at my Babe and tried to smile. It hurt so I kept a blank face. "I think you're right Babe. Let's go see if we can find some ice."

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The next chapter will follow tomorrow. Thanks for reading and all of the wonderful comments.


	15. Chapter 15

Things are beginning to heat up. Thanks for reading and enjoy the new chapter.

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_Tank's POV_

We just finished packing. We packed all sorts of body armour, ammunition, firearms, night vision equipment, heat signature equipment and anything else we thought might come in useful. Bobby and Lula made sure that there were enough medical supplies to equip a small hospital and Hector made sure that we were well supplied with cool gadgets.

When all the trucks were loaded, we headed to the airport. The plane was prepped and ready for our arrival and would take off as soon as we had everything loaded. Since we were unsure of how long we'd be in Miami, everyone took a bag of clothes for at least a week. If we stayed longer, the Miami equivalent of Ella would have some laundry to do.

Even though there were only four of us, we had enough equipment to fill two vans and another SUV. As a result, Junior, Zip and Zero drove the vehicles so that the vehicles didn't need to stay at the airport. Zip was a bit upset about being excluded from this trip. I couldn't blame him, but it was too close to home for him. He had a personal relationship with the General and Ranger couldn't let that get in the way.

Once we got to the airport, I pulled Zip aside and said, "Listen, I know you think that you've been left out because Ranger doesn't trust you. That is not the case. He's actually worried about putting you into a position where you'll have to do something that you couldn't live with. He recognises that you are friends with the General and he doesn't want you to have to choose between RangeMan and a friend.

"Your expertise is needed here in Trenton. You are one of the few left in this office with the necessary technical expertise to install, fix, or spec out a new system. All of our other techs are going to be in Miami."

Zip nodded and said, "I will not let Ranger down. I understand why he wants me as far away from this whole situation as possible. I would do the exact same and he knows it. I appreciate the trust you both have in me to perform my job even while you are away doing what needs to be done. Call if you need any help and good luck."

I shook Zip's hand and then took the other end of a heavy wooden crate and helped Zip lug it to the plane. Once all of the equipment was loaded into the cargo hold, we carried our bags and Hector's more delicate equipment into the cabin and waited to take off.

I could see the excitement on Lula's face so I decided to sit across from her so that we could talk. She watched me sit and then said, "Is it normal to be nervous?"

I wasn't sure what she meant so I asked, "Nervous about what? Flying?"

Lula shook her head and said, "This whole situation. I've been thinking. Won't somebody be monitoring the RangeMan jet and where it goes? Won't our presence in Miami be known?"

I looked at her and realised that we never even thought about that scenario in all of our planning. Before saying a word to Lula, I walked to the cockpit and told them to hold off for a few minutes. My next task was to call Ranger.

"Yo."

"Hey Boss, Lula just mentioned something that we may have forgotten."

"What's that? We did come up with this plan rather hastily."

"The whereabouts of the RangeMan jet is probably being monitored. We will have to file a flight plan and then get landing clearance in both D.C. and then Miami. We want to be able to surprise West. We won't be able to do that if we fly using this plane."

I could hear Ranger swear and throw something. He came back on the line and said, hold tight. I'll call you back in 10 minutes."

I went back to the cockpit and asked, "You haven't flied our flight plan yet have you?"

The pilot shook his head and said, "I was going to wait until we got clearance to take off before bothering. Since it's such a small airport, they don't need the plan ahead of time."

"Good. We're staying here until I hear back from Ranger. There may be a change in plans. I'll let you know as soon as I know something"

I returned to the main cabin and sat down beside Lula. She looked worried and said, "Did I screw up?"

I shook my head and said, "Not at all. As a matter of fact, you probably saved the whole plan. If anyone knew we were in Miami, we would have lost the element of surprise. West would be on high alert and he would probably cancel his tryst with Rachel. Ranger is trying to come up with a solution. Until then, we're staying put."

Hector didn't make much of a fuss over the delay. He simply lay back and closed his eyes, catching a bit of sleep. Bobby on the other hand, looked impatient. He caught my eye and said, "I've never liked last minute changes to a plan. I understand why this one is necessary, but I still don't like it."

I agreed with him. To try and pass the time while waiting to hear back from Ranger, I pulled out a deck of cards and asked the other 3 if they were interested in playing poker. The four of us gathered around the table and I handed the cards to Hector to have the first deal.

The first round was quick and painful. We weren't playing for real money, but Hector cleaned up. The second hand went to Lula and the third was once again Hector's. After it was clear that neither Bobby nor I were going to win a hand playing against these two sharks, we began to relax and watch the serious taunting and showiness going on between Hector and Lula.

The game was put on hold when the phone rang. "Tank, George has a client up in Boston who has a plane that we can use. Contact the Boston office to send a two man team back to Trenton on the RangeMan jet. They can help out Cal with the manpower shortage. The rest of you will transfer to the other plane and follow the original plan. Also let Cal know to expect the extra men so that they don't turn up unexpectedly."

Ranger filled me in with the rest of the details and then I hung up. I relayed the information to the pilots and went back to join the group. I shared the plan with them and they all looked frustrated and relieved. The added distance would make for a long day, but hopefully the change in planes would keep our arrival secret.

We played poker until we landed in Boston. Two RangeMan SUVs were waiting for us. They informed us that they were not followed and that there was no active surveillance on the airfield. This meant that we were safe from spies. With the help of the 4 men from Boston, we moved the cargo from one plane to the other. When I informed Cal about the change in plan, he was happy to hear he would benefit by our oversight and have two additional men. We watched them climb into the plane and then watched it take off on its way back to Trenton.

I talked to the pilot of our new plane and explained our route. He knew the D.C. airport well, but he wasn't familiar with the one in Miami. He suggested an alternate and I readily agreed. The alternate had never been used by RangeMan, so nobody would expect to find us there.

We took off and landed in D.C. in the early evening. We had originally expected to be in Miami by now, but the change of plan delayed us long enough that we missed dinner. Thanks to Bomber and the guys in D.C., we didn't have to wait until Miami to get something to eat. She and the rest of the team came prepared for a feast.

Ram didn't want any of the leftover food to go to waste, so he spent the afternoon cooking. While everyone else was packing up guns and ammo, Ram was preparing a feast to be eaten on the plane. We had little crust free quiches, finger sausages, pigs in a blanket, cheese, homemade potato chips, dip, chicken fingers, buffalo wings and veggies of all shapes and sizes.

Lula looked relieved when she saw Stephanie. At first, I thought it was because Bomber came bearing food. I quickly came to realise that Lula was happier to see Steph than the food. Don't get me wrong, Lula was grateful for the food, but when she hugged Bomber, it was obvious that she missed her friend.

When Lula let go of Stephanie, Bomber leaned back and said, "Damn Lula, you look great."

Ranger came up behind Stephanie and did a double-take when he saw Lula. He also went up and hugged Lula. "I can't express how grateful I am that I hired you. You've been amazing and you look amazing Lula."

Lula was speechless after her encounter with Ranger, so I took the opportunity to walk up beside her and while everybody else was busy with greetings and getting settled, I whispered, "I'm also grateful for everything you've done. I'm so proud to call you a friend. I can't wait for this whole fiasco to be over with so I can take you out on a proper date."

Lula looked up at me and smiled. She really did look beautiful without her trademark bold clothing and hair. I had to let her go when Lester introduced Lula to Fiona. "Lula, it's nice to meet you. Les says that you were instrumental in rescuing him."

Lula blushed at this and said, "I was there, I don't know if I was instrumental."

Stephanie jumped in and said, "If it wasn't for Lula's quick thinking, we'd never have found the property where you were being held. She also was the one who realised that the building materials were a little off. It was that discovery that helped us figure out that there might be explosives built into the walls. With that information, were able to get you and Ranger out safely. It was a team effort, but the MVP award definitely goes to Lula."

All of the new passengers took their seats and after we were in the air, we got stuck into the food. Ram outdid himself. Even Ranger was eating some of the less healthy options, but I noticed him wince a few times. I took a closer look and noticed the swelling and nasty bruise on his jaw. I walked over to where he was sitting and asked, "What on earth did you do to yourself? It looks like you broke your jaw."

Ranger smiled and said, "Trust me when I tell you that it is not a good idea to piss off LeBlanc. I said something I shouldn't have and she caught me unexpectedly with a round-house kick that landed me on my ass. I learned two lessons. The first was to keep my mouth shut and the second was to make sure that LeBlanc is my side and not against me."

I had to laugh when he told me that Fiona had knocked in out with a kick. That must have been one powerful kick. I turned to see Bomber and Fiona talking and made my way over to them. I looked at Fiona and was about to say something when Bomber said, "Fiona, this is Tank. He's Ranger's right hand man. He's been running RangeMan while Ranger has been lying low."

Fiona stood and looked me directly in the eye and said, "Nice to meet you Tank." She held out her hand and I engulfed her small hand in mine. I was surprised at the strength of her grip, and smiled. "It's nice to meet you too Fiona. I'm just sorry it has to be under these circumstances. I'm sorry that you were caught up in all of this."

"Oh don't worry about me. I was looking for an excuse to get away from the General and this seems to have done the trick nicely. Besides, if I hadn't been involved, who would have kept poor Lester company when he was cowering like a baby in the corner of that big scary dungeon?"

I laughed and looked up to catch Lester's eye. He didn't look embarrassed or even put out to be teased like this. I looked at Fiona who was also looking at Lester and understood. Something was going on between the two of them. Something more than Lester's usual one night stand pattern. Good for him.

We cleared up the mess from the food and took our seats for landing. Once on the ground, we packed up the two cargo vans and 2 SUVs that were waiting for us. We knew that a RangeMan caravan would be too obvious so we used George's connections and rented several vehicles through the same company who owned our plane.

We quickly loaded the vehicles and descended upon a newly acquired safe house that could not be easily linked to RangeMan or Ranger. The safe house was isolated and very secure. I almost laughed when I saw that the only access to the house was a narrow bridge. This was because the house was on a manmade island just outside of Miami. There was even a dangerous rocky outcrop that blocked access to the property from the sea.

The house was more like a complex. Ranger moved around and allocated rooms to the men. Anyone who was forced to sleep on a sofa in D.C. was given priority. This meant that both George and Lester were given the most comfortable rooms in the house. In the end, we were only one room short, even with Bomber and Boss Man doubling up.

I volunteered to sleep on the sofa in the living room because it would put me close to the door so I could keep watch. Lester came into the living room a few minutes later and said, "Hey Big man, Fiona's room has twin beds so she and Lula have agreed to share so you don't have to sleep on the sofa."

I was relieved to hear this so I nodded and said, "Thanks, but I'm actually surprised that you didn't offer to share your room with Fiona."

I saw Lester frown momentarily before saying, "I did offer, but she declined. It turns out that she and Lula think that it's best that they stay away from the two of us for the time being. They don't want to be distracted."

I laughed at the look if disappointment on Lester's face and followed him to the stairs. I normally like to tease Lester about his women problems, but this once, I kind of felt sorry for him. "Hey Les, once this is all over, talk to Fiona. I see the way you two look at each other. It sort of reminds me of how Ranger and Bomber were when they first met."

Lester nodded at my suggestion and smiled weakly. He pointed to a door and I watched him walk away before opening the door and entering the room. I looked up when I saw movement. Lula was hurrying to pack her things. I smiled and said, "You ladies didn't have to double-up just to save me from the sofa you know."

I watched Lula jump and turn towards me in surprise. When she recovered from her shock she said, "No worries Tank. We all need some rest, even you. You've been working hard and I figured you'd sleep better if you were in a bed and not on a sofa. Besides, I'd like to take this opportunity to get to know Fiona. She seems like a real hoot."

I put my bag down on the floor and walked towards Lula. When I was within reach, I took her beautiful face in my hands and said, "Goodnight Lula. Thanks again." I leaned down and kissed her so gently that I wasn't sure if our lips touched at first. Once Lula kissed me back, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her tight to me.

When I pulled away to catch my breath, Lula picked up her bag and moved towards the door. She looked at me sadly and said, "I am beginning to regret the whole sharing a room with Fiona thing now. Good night Tank, I'll see you in the morning."

She smiled one last time and left the room, closing the door behind her. I stood there staring at the closed door and promised myself that as soon as this thing with Ranger was resolved, I'd open up to Lula and let her in my life. I crawled into the bed and fell asleep dreaming of the woman I wanted to wake up beside every day.

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The next chapter in this saga will appear tomorrow or the following day. Thanks for your patience.

L.


	16. Chapter 16

Thanks for all the reviews and encouragement. This chapter is a little different. It jumps around so you can see how several people feel the night before the big confrontation. Enjoy

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_Stephanie's POV_

It was late and everyone was tired so we all went to our own rooms to rest. Tomorrow is going to be a huge day of preparations. I agreed to share a room with Ranger mainly because we were short a few rooms, but also because I always sleep better when I'm in his arms. I am truly exhausted so I don't think being in Ranger's proximity will be too much of a problem tonight.

I came out of the bathroom to find Ranger already in bed. As soon s I lifted the sheets to crawl into bed, he reached out and pulled me towards him so that my back was against his front. This was our usual position when we slept, but tonight, it was more comforting than I remember. I smiled as I closed my eyes, falling asleep in the arms of the man I loved.

"Babe?"

"Ranger."

"I'm worried Babe. What if we don't' get the information we need tomorrow? What if this is how my life is going to be forever?"

I turned and looked at him and said, "If we don't get the information we need tomorrow, we'll still find it. We'll just have to come up with a better plan."

Ranger buried his head in my hair and said, "God Babe, I love you so much. I just want this all to be over."

"I know Ranger. I want this to be over as well, but we can only do one thing at a time. First we get the person responsible for trying to ruin your life and then we'll have our second date."

Ranger grinned at me and said, "And then our third."

I laughed and hugged Ranger and kissed him gently before rolling over and allowing Ranger to wrap me in his arms. I closed my eyes and fell asleep with Ranger's steady breathing in my ear.

_Lula's POV_

I was no longer in his presence but my heart was still beating at twice its normal speed. Tank's kiss still lingered on my lips and I was seriously beginning to regret my decision about bunking with Fiona. I initially made the suggestion to share with Fiona because I knew that Tank wouldn't be comfortable on the sofa. He is a big man and although it is a large sofa, it wouldn't be large enough for Tank to get a good night's rest. Now, I wondered if I should have just offered to share my room with Tank.

I didn't get the chance to wonder very long because Fiona popped her head out of her room and saw me. "Hey Lula, do you have everything?"

I nodded and walked into the room and put my bag on the floor at the end of the empty bed. I turned and looked at Fiona and said, "Thanks for this suggestion Fiona. Tank would never have been comfortable sleeping on that sofa."

Fiona smiled and said, "I know what you mean. When I heard that Tank offered to sleep on the sofa so that the rest of us could be in comfort, I knew I had to suggest another arrangement. The beds in this room aren't very large. They're actually cots, so suggesting that two of the men share wouldn't really work. They're feet would dangle off the end of the bed. We're both relatively short, so I naturally thought of us since Stephanie is otherwise engaged."

I laughed at Fiona's comment about Stephanie. "She and Ranger deserve a little alone time. They've been through a lot and have finally found their way to each other."

Fiona nodded as she climbed under the covers on her bed. She smiled and said, "Before I met Stephanie, I saw the way Ranger spoke about her. I don't know him very well, but I could tell that he cared deeply for her. It was the only time he showed any emotion at all. Lester told me that Ranger calmed down a lot as soon as Stephanie arrived in D.C."

I followed suit since I was already in my pyjamas. Once under the covers, I turned to Fiona and asked, "Yeah, I think your presence has helped a certain RangeMan as well."

Fiona looked a bit sheepish and tried to distract me from my comment. I wasn't having it and said, "I see the way Lester looks at you. The Lester Santos charm is infamous. I'm impressed that you've held out for as long as you have."

Fiona sighed and said, "Lester has a reputation and I don't really want to get caught up in that. He seems like a good guy and all but I'm not sure I can get involved with him knowing it's only short term."

I looked at her and said, "How do you know that it will only be short term? I've never seen Lester act the way he does around you."

Fiona laughed and said, "I could say the same with you and Tank. We're a great group. It took how long for Ranger and Stephanie to admit their feelings? What about you and Tank? Les said that you broke up but didn't say why. I can tell you still care for each other. Les is a good man, but I'm not sure he's ready for or even wants an actual relationship."

Fiona sighed and continued, "I'm not saying I want to get married tomorrow, but I'm not getting any younger. I'm not really interested in a short-term physical relationship and that's what I fear Id' get from Lester."

I couldn't fault her logic so I just said, "Maybe you should talk to him about this. Stephanie had the exact same concerns about Ranger when they first started and now look at them."

Fiona and I talked a little while longer but we were both exhausted. We turned off the light and fell into silence. I'm sure Fiona was thinking about Lester just as my last thoughts before I fell asleep were of Tank.

_Ranger's POV_

My Babe is asleep in my arms but I cannot sleep. I'm too worried about the next day and getting the necessary information from Tim West and Rachel. I am used to operating on little to no sleep, but I am already so exhausted from this while ordeal. I listened to my Babe's steady breathing and took comfort just from her presence beside me.

I wanted to quiet my mind but I couldn't help but go over the possible reasons why I was in this predicament. I thought about Rachel's involvement but I found it hard to believe that she was the mastermind behind the whole situation. There had to be more to it than just her greed.

My next thoughts were of the General. Looking back, I can recall the look of disdain he had on his face the day he arrested me. He didn't look sad, he didn't look like he was happy, but he did look like he was angry. At the time, I assumed he was angry with me. Now I wonder if he was angry with something else. Was he involved? Was it voluntary? I just hope I can find out tomorrow. I can't live like this much longer.

I tried to think if I ever crossed paths with West. I didn't think so. I know that Black Scorpion has asked us to work with them before, but we didn't have the manpower at the time so the core team decided to turn the offer down. We also didn't like the idea that we'd have no control over planning or execution. We were just expected to turn up on the day and follow orders from a complete stranger. At least with the General, we were involved in planning and team selection.

My thoughts went on for a while like this. I must have drifted in and out of sleep a few times, because the time on the clock progressed in larger doses. Eventually, I gave up thinking about my problems and started thinking about my life after we had all the answers. Thinking about a life with Stephanie helped me calm down. It calmed me down so much that I closed my eyes and actually fell asleep.

_Tank's POV_

I've been tossing and turning for the past few hours. The kiss I shared with Lula just before she left the room keeps playing itself like a film in mind. I don't know if it's Lula's new confidence or her less flamboyant sense of style, but it's like she's a new woman. She hasn't changed her personality at all. She's still the same sassy talking woman I've grown fond of, but she carries herself differently now than she did before.

Also, her natural hair was just so damned sexy. When we were together last year, she never would let me see her without a wig, even in bed. She just didn't feel like herself without a weave or a wig. I'm just glad that she has changed her mind. I like the natural look she's been sporting. I even like her less revealing clothing. It seems to suit her personality more than her old florescent and animal printed spandex outfits.

I need to tell her how I feel about her. I know we agreed to go on a date, but I wanted more than just one night with her. God, I was turning into a love sick fool. Now I know how Ranger has felt all of this time when it came to Bomber. I should probably have been a bit more supportive.

Once I recognised my feelings for what they were, I was able to relax and I eventually fell asleep thinking about how I would show Lula that I wanted her in my life. I closed my eyes and touched my lips, remembering our kiss from earlier.

_Lester's POV_

How do you convince a woman that you are not the man she thinks you are? How do you convince yourself that you are not the man you once were? There were the questions that were racing around my head as I lay in bed on the eve of a very important day.

I know I have a reputation when it comes to the ladies. It's a well earned reputation at that. I never cared about my reputation. In fact, I was proud of it. That is until it actually got in the way. I've never met a woman who intrigued me in the same way as Firecracker. I know she only sees me as some playboy who isn't interested in anything serious, and if she were anyone else, that might just be the case.

Unfortunately for me, there was something about her that just pulled me in. She was brave, beautiful, smart and sexy as hell. I mean come on, she took Ranger down with a single blow. That was probably the hottest thing I've ever seen. I wanted to rush over to her and wrap my arms around her, but I knew it wouldn't be welcome at that time.

I was pretty surprised by her reaction to Ranger's taunts. I mean, she kicked the hell out of him. I was even more surprised when she felt bad about it afterward. It was sort of a knee jerk reaction for her and she did regret it immediately, especially when she saw the damage she had done. She calmed down a little on the flight down to Miami when Bobby told her that Ranger's jaw was definitely not broken, just well and truly bruised. I saw the look of relief on Firecracker's face when she hugged Beautiful when they were given the news.

I rolled over and punched my pillow, trying to get more comfortable. I needed to get some sleep tonight if I was expected to be fully functional tomorrow. While we were in D.C., none of us got enough sleep. We were on constant alert and I was sleeping on a cot in the hallway because it was the only available bed. At least here, I have a bed.

I sighed and rolled over again. Maybe I should talk to Fiona about the possibility of actually dating her, not just a one night thing. I wondered if she'd be interested in that. I know she's attracted to me. I can usually tell. She and I get along quite well and I think we could be good together. I just needed to find the words and an appropriate time.

I sighed again at my predicament. I am kind of like the boy who cried wolf. Nobody believed him when the real wolf came along and now nobody believes me when I meet a woman I could truly and honestly be with. Visions of wolves and fire crackers filled my mind as I drifted off to sleep. My last conscious thought was how hard it would be for Ranger to confront Rachel the following night. I felt for him as much as I felt for myself.

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Today's your lucky day. I'll post the next chapter shortly. Reviews are welcome as always.


	17. Chapter 17

This is another chapter that switches back and forth between various points of view. Enjoy.

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_Fiona's POV_

I woke up relatively early. Lula was still sound asleep. I rolled over and faced the wall, trying to get back to sleep, but try as I might, sleep did not come. My mind was too busy. I kept thinking about what the General had done and how I had almost been killed along with Ranger and his men who were there trying to rescue us.

The General's involvement never made sense to me. Of course he would be disappointed if Ranger left his employ, but he wasn't the only man available to do those jobs. He may be the best, but he deserved a life after sacrificing so much for his country. My only conclusion is that the General's hands are being forced somehow. Either he's being blackmailed or he's been promised something good in return for his participation.

My thoughts then turned to the men in the house. All of them, including the lawyer had served. They all were deeply loyal to one another and there was more to their relationships than just commander and subordinate. There was respect and more importantly, friendship. I could see it in the way the guys greeted each other when we boarded the plane. I could see it in the way they talked and interacted with each other. I could also see it in the way they protected not only each other, but the women they had in common.

Stephanie was an interesting woman. Within seconds of meeting her, I liked her, and that is rare for me. I usually find women to be unreliable as friends. Most are too caught up in their own little world to really offer anything other than their time at their convenience. I know I have a harsh view of things, but most of the people in my life for the last decade have been men. The women who were with me in the army always saw me as competition. They were never friendly. On a few occasions, they were even cruel and down right malicious.

Stephanie seemed different. She treated the men with respect but she still stood up for herself. She gave Lula all of the credit for everyone's safety, even when she played a big role as well. I know that Lula has a bit of a chequered past, but I don't' know the whole story. All I know is that Stephanie saved her life and they've been great friends ever since. I might get the nerve to ask Lula about it at some point, but not till things calm down a little.

Lula was quite a straight talker. She called me on Lester and she was spot on. I was worried about getting involved with him because of his history with women. I knew men like that could change, but it wasn't common. He's very fun and sexy, but I would enter a liaison with him wanting a relationship. He on the other hand, would probably just want a few good rolls in the hay. I'm sure they'd be good, those rolls, but not exactly ideal at this point in my life. I'm not getting any younger and if I want to settle down, wasting time on a good lay isn't going to get me closer to what I really want.

I sighed and decided to get up. I was as quiet as possible and managed to get out of the room without waking Lula. It's a good thing she's such a heavy sleeper. I walked down to the kitchen and saw that there was already a pot of coffee made. I looked around and found a mug and poured myself a cup. I jumped when Ram came in and said, "Morning Fiona. We're a bit limited on breakfast foods this morning. We have only have fruit salad, muesli and yogurt."

I smiled at Ram after I wiped up the coffee I spilled when I jumped. "That will be fine for me Ram. I can eat pretty much anything, as long as there's coffee." I held up my mug and moved into the living room and collapsed into a chair. I was most of the way through my coffee and considering a second cup when Stephanie joined me.

"I can't believe that we don't have anything to eat for breakfast." I heard her mumble.

"What do you mean? Ram just told me that there's food."

Steph snickered and said, "There's food, but it's not really edible in my opinion. Muesli tastes like dirt, and plain yogurt is revolting."

I laughed and said, "You can sweeten things up by adding some of the fruit salad to the muesli. It won't taste great, but it'll be better than nothing. If the yogurt was flavoured, it would be nice on the muesli as well."

I watched as Stephanie sighed and walked back to the kitchen. She returned a few minutes later with 2 bowls of fruit salad and muesli sans yogurt. She handed me one and then dug into hers. I smiled as I accepted the bowl and thanked her. I took a few bites and groaned. "You're right Steph, this is like eating dirt. What kind of muesli is this?"

Steph chuckled and said, "I'm not sure, but I'm so ordering room service tonight at the hotel. There will be lots of unhealthy foods for sure."

I smiled at this thought and said, "Count me in. I don't mind eating healthy food as long as it at least tastes like food. This stuff is almost inedible."

Steph nodded and said, "It didn't look too great when I dished it up so I put in loads of fruit to make up for it. The guys have all descended on the kitchen so there's not going to be an opportunity for seconds."

My head popped up when she said that the guys were all up. I wondered how Lester had slept. He had gotten the short straw in D.C. and was forced to sleep on a cot. He placed the cot outside my room which at the time, I thought was so he could try his luck with me. I found out later that he did it to protect me. I overheard him talking to Hal.

Just thinking about that single act of chivalry mixed with a bit of sexism brought a smile to my face. The smile turned to a grin when Lester walked in and said, "What's put that smile on your face Firecracker?"

Stephanie laughed and said, "Fiona agrees with me that this is not much of a breakfast. We've already decided to take full advantage of the room service at the hotel tonight."

Lester grinned and said, "We'll have to take that up with Ranger. You might give us away if you're seen opening the door."

Steph's face fell and Lester laughed. "Don't worry Beautiful. We'll make sure you get something to eat. We'll be in a suite that adjoins the room where Ranger will be confronting Rachel. We can get George or one of the lesser known RangeMan guys to answer the door when room service is sent up. Don't worry."

Once both Steph and I were finished with our breakfast, I took the bowls back to the kitchen and greeted the guys in there. Ranger saw me and said, "Team meeting at 10. I need you all packed and ready to leave her immediately after."

I nodded and said, "OK, I'm going to go get showered and dressed. I'll be back down shortly."

"Thanks LeBlanc. Please fill anyone in that you see between here and there."

I agreed and headed upstairs to my room. When I walked in, Lula was just packing up her bag. She was already dressed and ready for the day. "You'd better hurry Lula or all of the edible breakfast stuff will be gone."

She smiled and made her way downstairs as I gathered my things and headed into the shower.

_Ranger's POV_

The team meeting went well. Everyone knew where they would be stationed and what they needed to do as soon as we arrived at the hotel. We staggered our departure from the safe house and our arrival at the hotel for two reasons. The first reason was easy. We didn't want to draw attention to ourselves because of our numbers. The second reason was a little more practical. We needed to get Lula into position and we needed Hector to disable security and let us into the hotel service entrance. We needed to get in undetected and unseen.

The first group to leave was Hector, Lula and Woody. With them went a bunch of Hector's toys that Hector needed to hack into the hotel security feed. Woody would take up position in the hotel lobby and keep an eye out for anyone suspicious. He'd be carrying a smart phone that included a facial recognition app that Hector whipped up. If one of West's knows associates or the General's employees came into the hotel, Woody would know seconds after snapping their photo.

The second group to leave was Vince, Hal, Ram and Lester. They would be responsible for installing the surveillance equipment in the hotel hallways and the room where West would meet with Rachel. They carried all of their necessary equipment in duffle bags so it would be up to the rest of us to transport their personal belongings and swat gear.

That left Tank, Babe, Fiona, George and me to take the remainder of our equipment and gear. We climbed into the final SUV. Tank drove, I rode shotgun and George sat in the back with Babe and Fiona. We arrived at the hotel and parked in the back of the lot away from guest parking. We had to make three trips to get all of the equipment to the service elevator.

_Lula's POV_

I have never worked at the front desk in a Hotel before but I wasn't too worried. All I had to do was look up a person's name, take their credit card, punch in the codes on the screen and hand them a card. We know that West and Rachel show up sometime around 4PM. It's only 12 now, but we didn't want to put me in place too late because West might send out scouts and a last minute change to personnel at the front desk might spook him into not showing.

Early afternoon is a relatively quiet period. Guests have already checked out if they are leaving today and new guests don't usually check in until after 3PM. This gives us a few hours to get set up. Hector is currently crawling around on the floor under my feet. He's connecting a relay switch into the hotel's network so he can access all aspects of hotel security from the suite upstairs.

My first task once I was set up at the front desk was to make sure that all of the rooms surrounding West's usual room were filled by RangeMan personnel. If regular guests were placed in one of those rooms, I reorganised things so they were given a room on a higher floor or an upgrade.

Ranger would be placed in the room closest to the elevators. It's adjoining room would be used by Fiona and Steph to get Ranger ready for his meeting with Rachel. Apparently Fiona is going to make Ranger look like he's seriously injured. I didn't quite know how that would work, but I trusted them.

The room that has a connecting door with West's suite will house several armed men. Tank, Hal, Ram and Lester will be listening and watching the happenings in the room. Another suite down the hall nearer to the elevators will be where Hector and Bobby are located. They will keep an eye on Hotel surveillance to make sure that there is no backup available for West. They will take any suspected Black Scorpion employees out with tranquilizer darts if necessary. Woody and Vince would take up residence in the bar and keep an eye out for suspicious activity.

Working the front desk wasn't as boring as I thought it would be. I got to talk with people and I was able to participate in one of my favourite pastimes, people watching. I was wearing an earpiece that allowed the guys to talk to me. At 2:30, Tank came on and said that everyone was in position.

About 20 minutes later, I saw Woody move out of the corner of my eye. He lifted his phone and then I heard him say "Two Black Scorpion men have just entered the lobby. Vince and I will make ourselves scarce and watch from a more isolated location. We don't want them to see us."

At 3:00, Woody gave another update. "The scout party has just left. I can only assume that West's arrival has been cleared and his arrival is imminent."

Woody was right. About 3 minutes later, West came to the front desk and I checked him in like any other guest. West went to the elevators and made his way up to his room, completely unaware that we were watching his every step.

Less than an hour later, Rachel walked into the hotel and right past the front desk. She obviously knew where West was and went straight to the elevators. I had to stay on the front desk until 6PM, just in case West had eyes and ears in the lobby. This meant that I had no idea what was going on upstairs because as soon as Rachel arrived, Ranger requested radio silence.

_Stephanie's POV_

True to his word, Ranger had the necessary equipment at the hotel for Fiona to transform Ranger from a handsome and slightly bruised man into someone who looked like they barely survived a deadly explosion. I watched as Fiona added a piece of latex to the side of Ranger's jaw that was not bruised. The latex piece covered part of his cheek and ran down his neck. When she was finished, it looked like Ranger had been seriously burned.

The wound was extremely realistic and that was only one of the changes she made. She added a split to his lip, a cut above his eyebrow and a swollen eye with a bit more latex. I looked at the transformation and almost felt sorry for Rachel because she wouldn't know that this wasn't real. My sympathy for Rachel was short lived when I remembered her callous words when I was last in Miami.

Fiona was just finishing up when we got word that Rachel was now in the hotel. We didn't know how long she'd be here, but we had to be prepared for as little as 30 minutes and as much as 6 hours. While West and Rachel were occupied, we took advantage of the free time and ordered some food. Luckily for me, Ranger let us order whatever we wanted and he didn't even complain when I included dessert.

We were fed and watered and Ranger was in his own room. Now we only had to sit and wait for the show to begin. It's true that waiting is the hardest part. I knew this from experience. I hated stakeouts, but this was different. This affected the man I love and I was nervous that it wouldn't turn out as well as we planned.

_Lester's POV_

I'm glad that Ranger requested that he be looped out of the audio and video surveillance we had in West's room. He definitely wouldn't want to witness what we were seeing and hearing. West was one kinky bastard and the whole thing was making me uncomfortable. Just when we thought the awkward part was over, they started up again.

Rachel arrived around 5 pm and her and West kept things up until almost 7. I was disgusted with the way West was talking to Rachel throughout the whole process. It was like she was his sex slave and he was in charge. As soon as he was satisfied, he practically ordered Rachel out of the room. She smiled, escaped into the bathroom and emerged a few minutes later looking content and ready to leave. She picked up her purse, spoke to West and made her way towards the door.

I nodded to Tank and he broke radio silence and said, "Rachel is leaving the room. Go now Ranger."

_Ranger's POV_

As soon as I heard that Rachel was leaving, I hurried into the room beside the elevator and filled a bucket with ice. I was using a crutch to help me walk, and when I emerged from the room, I saw Rachel walking towards me with a hint of a smile on her face.

When Rachel drew near enough, she looked up at me and didn't recognise me. I stumbled and dropped a few cubes of ice and stared at her without moving out of her way. She took a closer look at me and gasped from shock.

"Carlos? Oh my god, you're alive."

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The next chapter will be posted tomorrow. Thanks for your patience and encouragement.


	18. Chapter 18

What's this? A 3rd chapter? Enjoy!

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_Rachel's POV_

Oh my God, the man walking towards me looks like he's half dead. He's staring at me and making me uncomfortable. I watched him lose his footing with his crutch and drop some ice on the carpet. Something about him was familiar so I took a closer look.

My eyes widened when I recognised him. "Carlos? Oh my god, you're alive."

I couldn't believe it. The man in front of me was my ex-husband, but he is seriously injured. I watched him sway on his feet and I immediately reached out to help him stay on his feet.

"Where are you staying Carlos?"

I heard a raspy voice that sounded nothing like the man I remembered said, "The first room on the right."

He held out a key card and I took it and helped him into the room. Once inside, Carlos collapsed onto the bed with the bucket of ice clasped in his left arm. He immediately pulled a glass towards him and filled it with ice and a mini bottle of vodka from the mini bar. He took a deep drink and sighed with relief.

I could see that he was in pain. He had a nasty looking burn on the side of his face. The only thing I could think of was that the burn would leave a scar that would disfigure his once handsome face. Any thoughts of working things out with him were pushed from my mind. I didn't think I could look at that scar for the rest of my life, no matter how much money he had.

"Carlos, they told me you were dead. What happened?"

Carlos looked at me and coughed before speaking quietly. "The building exploded around me. Several of my men were killed, but I managed to crawl out of the rubble. I came here because I don't know who to trust anymore. I knew you would help me, I knew I could trust you no matter what. You're the only one I can trust."

I groaned inwardly. How could I help Carlos? I should call Tim and tell him that Carlos is here. It would surely be the death of him, but at least I would be able to get my hands on his money. I looked at Carlos and asked, "Have you at least seen a doctor?"

He nodded and said, "I paid a man to tend to my injuries."

I hated his lack of explanation so I said, "Are you OK to be left alone? I have to go home so Ron and the kids don't worry."

He nodded and said, "I'm fine to be alone for a while. I just need help bathing and to have the dressings on my more serious wounds changed."

I grimaced at this. I am not a very good nurse. Cuts and bruises gross me out. I would just going to agree to his request and get the hell out of here. I needed to think. Do I call Tim? I don't hate Carlos, so I don't want him to suffer, but I also don't want to have to take care of him.

I looked at Carlos and said, "I'll come back in the morning once the kids are at school and Ron has gone to work. Take care of yourself Carlos and I'll see you tomorrow."

Carlos nodded and just sat there and watched me walk out of the room. I got down to the lobby and pulled out my phone. I dialled Tim's number but didn't get an answer. I decided that I'd call back rather than leave a message. Tim might even call me if he saw that he missed my call. I walked to my car and put on my game face so that I could go home to my family. Ron had no idea that I was cheating on him and he never would.

_Ranger's POV_

I watched Rachel's reaction to my physical appearance. Even though I knew it was temporary, it bothered me. I was used to getting a more positive reaction from the women in my life. I tried to push that idea that Rachel found me repulsive to the back of my mind.

Hector set my phone up so I could clone another phone when it was in close proximity. I had to enable the app without Rachel noticing. The easiest way was to talk about my injuries. She couldn't bear to look at me and kept her eyes firmly on the floor.

I managed to clone Rachel's phone before she left the room. She also agreed to come back the following morning to help me with my injuries. The only thing I wasn't sure about was whether or not she'd call West and tell him my whereabouts. I guess we'd have to wait and see.

As soon as we got confirmation that Rachel had left the hotel, we heard her dial the phone. She was calling West. I don't know why I was surprised? I was hoping that she'd keep my location a secret, but I suppose she's not the woman I thought I knew. When Rachel hung up after getting West's voice mail, I wasn't sure whether I was disappointed or relieved. Either way, we'd still confront her in the morning when she returns. Hopefully by then we'd have the information we need from West.

_Tank's POV_

As soon as we got confirmation of Rachel's exit and failed call, we entered West's room. He was in the shower when we went in so it was easy to take him by surprise. Lester, Ram, Hal and I sat in various chairs around the room and simply waited for West to finish his shower.

We didn't have to wait very long. West came into the room with a towel wrapped around his body and a second towel around his shoulder. He was so immersed in his own thoughts that it took him a few moments before he noticed that he was not alone. As soon as he laid eyes on Hal, he visibly paled.

He swallowed and asked Hal, "Who the hell are you and what do you want?"

Hal just stood there and smiled at West. He turned and looked at the other men in the room. He paused at Lester. He recognised him but couldn't place him. Then he looked at me and his eyes went wide. He clearly knew who I was.

"What are you doing here?"

"We came to get some information."

"If you want to talk to me, you can make an appointment with my secretary."

I looked over at Lester and the other two guys. Each of them was slowly moving forward, closing in on West. I smiled at him and said, "I don't think an appointment is necessary. We're here now so you might as well tell us what we want to know."

I saw West look around him and swallow. I watched him as he tried to figure out how to get out of this situation. Finally he signed and asked, "What do you want to know?"

"What do you know about Carlos Manoso's recent troubles?"

West snickered and said, "Troubles? Do you mean his arrest and subsequent death when he tried to escape?"

Now it was my turn to snicker. "Ranger wasn't arrested and we both know it. You and General Matthews set him up and I'm here to find out why."

West's facial expressions were easy to read. He pretty much confirmed what we already knew. He and the General were working together. I got impatient with West's lack of response so I asked another question.

"What do you have on the General? Did you blackmail him with a bank account in his wife's name? Why did he play along with you and pretend to arrest Ranger?"

It was obvious that this question annoyed West but he continued to ignore our questions. My next question clearly angered him, but once again, he remained silent.

"We have proof that your company owned the building where Ranger was illegally held prisoner. The fact that it exploded only adds more evidence of your corruption."

We were getting nowhere with these questions so we needed to bring in the big guns. We knew that West believed that Ranger was dead, so if he walked in here alive and well, he might give something away out of shock. I simply looked at West and said, "I think a haunting is in order."

Ranger understood my meaning and moments later, there was a knock at the door. West looked at me and I nodded towards the door and said, "I think that's for you."

West walked towards the door slowly and said, "Who is it?"

"Room Service," came the reply.

West tentatively opened the door and was pushed back inside. He hadn't even had time to register who was pushing him before he was flat on his back on the bed. Ranger had his hands around West's throat and was choking him.

I stepped forward and pulled Ranger away from West. If I hadn't done that, we'd have lost our only lead. West scooted to the head of the bed away from Ranger. He sat there, catatonically staring at Ranger. After a few minutes of massaging his neck, West cracked.

"How are you not dead? That building where you were being kept blew up. We set it up that way on purpose."

Ranger moved closer to West. He was only inches away when he spoke so quietly that it was hard to hear him. "Who is '**_we_**'? Who set it up?"

West was clearly afraid of Ranger. Ranger can be one scary guy, especially when he's angry. West looked like he wasn't going to answer, so Ranger pulled a knife from behind his back and said, "If you don't tell me who you are working with and why, I'll cut you up one piece at a time."

West was terrified but he didn't say a word. Finally, Ranger snapped. He walked over to West and knocked him out with a single blow to the side of the head. Ranger looked back at me and said, "I think we need to move him. Get Bobby to sedate him and then get him back to the safe house."

I nodded and started ordering the men around. I called Bobby over the comms and had him come to the room and sedate West. We gathered all of his clothing and belongings and were out of there in less than 30 minutes.

_Lula's POV_

We watched and listened to the interrogation from the suite next door. I saw the pain on Stephanie's face as Tank tried to get some information from West. Maybe intimidation wasn't the right way to go. I was glad when Tank called in Ranger, until he cold cocked West that is. We had to rush around and pull out of there and go back to the safe house with West in tow. Ranger would have to come back in the morning to confront Rachel, but we could worry about that later.

Stephanie was jittery the whole time we were packing up. Something was bothering her. I turned to her once we had the swat equipment all packed away and said, "Is your spidey sense telling you something?"

She nodded and said, "When Tank mentioned the bank account, I saw West flinch. There's something there but I don't know what exactly."

"Trust your instincts Steph. Tell Ranger as soon as you see him. Maybe they can ask some more questions relating to that and you can figure out what is causing your spidey sense to go off. Better yet, ask to talk to the man yourself."

When we got down to the parking garage, I was lucky enough to sit on one side of West. Tank was on the other so he could keep an eye on him. We didn't expect him to wake on the journey because Bobby gave him a sedative, but it was always possible.

West must have a fast metabolism because we were five minutes out when he started to come around. He saw me and tried to hit me. I grabbed his arm and said, "I wouldn't hit me if I were you. I'm a pacifist, so if you try that again, I'm gonna pass my fist right into your already sore face."

West paled a bit at my comment and I laughed. Tank also boomed with laughter. Instead of calming West down, Tank's laughter actually scared him. West looked around and asked, "Where the hell are you taking me?"

I grinned at the weasel of a man and said, "We're taking you somewhere where nobody will hear you scream."

West became still and silent with that comment. He looked around trying to figure out where he was, so I decided to put him back to sleep with a quick jab of my stun gun. As soon as West slumped over, Tank leaned forward across West and kissed me. This wasn't a gentle kiss. This was a kiss that would lead to something if we weren't in a car filled with other people.

I pulled away and smiled shyly at Tank. He grinned back and said, "The way you just handled him was hilarious Lula. I'm sorry if I embarrassed you there."

"No worries Tank. Although, I wouldn't mind picking up where we left off at a later time." I said as I grinned up at him.

_Stephanie's POV_

I explained my spidey sense alert to Ranger on the drive back to the safe house. When we arrived and West was securely shackled in the basement safe room, we pulled out all of the information we had about the bank account and the surveillance footage. I read the file about three times but nothing jumped out at me. Finally, I focused my attention on the surveillance footage and pushed the file I had been reading away from me.

On my fifth time through the footage, something caught my eye. I watched it again and then called Ranger. As soon as Ranger arrived, I told him to watch the footage. I kept playing it until he finally saw what I had seen. Ranger pulled out a file, looked at a picture and confirmed our suspicions.

Armed with the laptop, the photo and the file, Ranger walked out of the room. He looked over his shoulder and said, "Are you coming Babe? You found this so you get to ask the questions."

I walked over to Ranger and pulled him aside away from all the eyes that had been watching us. "Ranger, I don't think that's a good idea. I'm bound to screw up and cause more problems than help."

Ranger put his hand to my face and quietly asked, "Why do you think you'd screw up? Your skills were how we got this information. Or are you just scared."

I sighed and said, "I am scared. I'm well versed in all of the things that could go wrong in there. I don't want to screw up and miss any information that we need."

"I'll be right there beside you Babe. We'll get the information we need."

I finally relented and followed Ranger down into the basement. I knew that there was sound and audio being fed upstairs, and that calmed my nerves a little. Everything said and done in this room would be recorded and later used as needed. I walked into the room and sat at the table across from West. Ranger remained standing with his arms crossed against his chest. He was an intimidating figure, even to me.

I arranged the laptop and closed files on the desk and then sat there and stared at Tim West for about 5 minutes. I wanted to see if he'd say anything. Eventually, West sighed and said, "Has the mighty Ranger Manoso started to resort to using the silent treatment for interrogations? He said this while smiling at Ranger. I slapped the table and got his attention and said, "This is my interrogation, not Ranger's. Besides, you broke first so apparently staying silent worked."

I took a breath and opened the file in front of me. I looked down at the photos and said, "Why did you use Rachel to open a bank account in Mrs. Matthew's name?"

West laughed and said, "She was gullible and easily manipulated. I needed a woman to impersonate the General's wife and using Ranger's ex was just too good to pass up. Besides, Rachel is a great lay." He looked at Ranger, winked and said, "But you already know that, don't you?"

Ranger kept his blank face in place, so I played along with West's attitude and asked, "How long have you been sleeping with Rachel?"

"About 8 months now."

I looked at the photos in front of me, but they were tilted away from West so that he couldn't see. My next question was, "Why did you use Rachel to fraudulently open a bank account in Mrs. Matthew's name?"

West grinned and said, "The General refused to go along with my plan. That was until I had something to use against him. Once we had that account set up in Gina's name, he was at our mercy. If his bosses heard about the bank account, the General would have lost his job and likely ended up in prison."

I doubted if West realised that he just gave us a useful titbit of information. He just inadvertently had given away a huge piece of information. I gathered up my files and walked towards the exit. Ranger looked at me with a raised eyebrow. I didn't say anything, I simply nodded at the door. I opened the door and walked out knowing Ranger would follow.

Once we were out in the hall, Ranger pushed me up against the wall and kissed me. He pulled back a few minutes later and said, "You were amazing in there Babe, but I don't' understand why you stopped."

I smiled up at Ranger and said, "I need to run a search before I continue my questions. West let something slip that makes me suspicious. I'll run my search and once I get the results, I'll continue my interrogation."

Ranger nodded, kissed me once more and then took my hand and led me to our room. He smiled at me and said, "I'll leave you here to run the search. Come find me when you're done and you can share your findings with me."

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Tomorrow's submission(s) will be interesting.. What do you think Steph saw on the surveillance footage and what did West do that tipped her off? The answers will come tomorrow. Thanks for your feedback and reading.


	19. Chapter 19

I hope you don't have your hopes up for another 3 chapter day. I will only be able to upload one, but it has a few answers. Enjoy!

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_Ranger's_ POV

I wish I knew what was going on in my Babe's head. She seems confident in her secrecy, but I wish she'd hurry up and tell me. I rarely ever get this way but I'm beginning to lose my patience. I couldn't pass enough time by taking my frustrations out on Lester. Luckily, LeBlanc is a formidable sparring partner. She was able to challenge me enough that I was able to pass the time with a good workout.

There was no clock in the gym, so I looked at my watch to check the time. LeBlanc took advantage of this the first time so I learned not to look. In the end, not looking at my watch worked in my favour. I killed enough time and I figured Stephanie would be nearly finished by now. I took a quick shower after my workout and quietly opened the door to our room. I smiled as I found Stephanie posed in what she refers to as her '**_thinking position_**.'

I was torn at that moment. 98% of me wanted to jump her right there and then. The other 2% of me wanted to know what she found. I walked to the foot of the bed and stood there looking down at her. After about two minutes, my Babe opened her eyes. She smiled up at me and said, "I think I know who's behind this whole thing. I know who, but I don't know why. We need to talk to West before we know why."

"Tell me Babe, I want to know what you found out."

She shook her head and said, "I need you to trust me Ranger. I don't' have all the answers, so I think leading West by asking specific questions will get us the information we need."

I smiled down at my Babe and looked into her deep blue eyes. "I do trust you Babe. I trust that you will get to the bottom of this mystery. I trust that we will get to have our second date soon."

Stephanie took my hand and gathered some papers together and placed them in a folder. She then picked up the folder and walked down to the basement, pulling me after her.

_Stephanie's POV_

We entered the interrogation room and resumed our previous positions. Ranger stood at the door with is arms crossed and I sat at the table. I opened the folder in front of me and showed West the first photo in the pile. I slid it across the table and watched his reaction. West tried, but was incapable of putting forth a blank face. He struggled to maintain his composure, even though he already admitted to being there.

The photo was of him and Rachel at the bank. I was pretty sure why the bank caused him concern, but I wanted to go step by step for the record. I looked at West and asked, "Where did the 3 million dollars come from? There was no deposit record and you didn't carry it in."

West just stared at me and refused to answer. I didn't care. I already knew the answer and explained it to him and Ranger. "We know that it was actually Rachel that opened the account, but you were the one that provided the cheque. It was given to you moments before by Gina Matthews. We have the two of you on the surveillance tape and Gina clearly hands you a piece of paper. You handed that same piece of paper to the bank employee a few minutes later."

Both Ranger and West looked shocked. I knew I surprised them, but that was the whole point. I was looking for a specific reaction from West. I took my time smoothing the bent corner of the next photo and handed it to West. I looked up at Ranger and smiled. I then slid the second photo to West and asked him a question before he really had time to register what he was seeing.

"Can you tell me who that is?"

West looked up at me and he was clearly afraid. I didn't let up and handed him the next photo. This one was new to Ranger and one that I found during my search. West looked at it with confusion. He looked up at me and asked, "What is this?"

I smiled at him and said, "This is a photo of Mrs. Enrique Escobar. You may or may not know this, but he was a Columbian crime lord that was killed a few years ago."

West looked confused and asked, "Why are you showing me this?"

"I'm showing you this because Gina Matthews is Paula Escobar." West started down at the three photos and looked more confused than ever. I smiled at him but my small victory was interrupted when Ranger cleared his throat and said, "Babe, can I please see you out in the hall?"

I looked up at Ranger. I was surprised by his request but I complied. I took the photos from West and walked out into the hall. Once the door was closed, Ranger took the photos from my hands and studied them. He looked at me and said, "It looks like two different women Babe, why are convinced that this is the same woman?"

I knew this question was coming, although I expected it from West rather than Ranger. "She had two rounds of plastic surgery just before her husband was killed. She had a nose job and some implants added to her cheeks and chin. Here is the last photo of her and her husband before he was killed."

I saw the look on Ranger's face when he looked at the photo. It was like he was seeing a ghost. He reached out and put a hand against the wall as if to steady him. He looked at me and said, "I was part of the team that was sent to Colombia to stop Escobar. We were originally asked to arrest him but Escobar didn't want to go to prison.

"We spent almost two years traipsing around the countryside. Lester was there too, but I was the one that eventually pulled the trigger and ended Enrique's life. After his death, Paula was left with nothing because all of their money was confiscated by the Colombian government."

I touched Ranger's face and said, "Ranger, we now know who is responsible for all of your troubles. All we have to do is get West's confession and we're done."

Ranger looked at me and said, "I just don't understand how this woman knew that I was the one that killed her husband. I never saw her and as far as we're aware, she wasn't home the night that Escobar was killed."

"I don't know Ranger, but we'll find out."

Ranger nodded and opened the door to let me back in the room with West. He looked up and said, "What does this Escobar woman and Gina have to do with one another?"

I handed West the last photo and said, "This is Paula Escobar three weeks before her husband was killed. She underwent a bit of plastic surgery and as you can see, Paula and Gina are the same woman."

West started asking his own questions. "I don't understand. What does this have to do with Ranger?"

I looked at West and said, "Gina manipulated you in a plot to avenger her husband's death. I bet she sought out the General because he was in charge of all foreign missions. She then picked you out as a malleable pawn who had something against both the General and Ranger. Involving Rachel was probably her idea as well. I doubt you could have come up with part of the plan on your won."

West looked dejected. He looked up at me and almost whispered, "I thought she loved me. She told me that we could be together after the General was arrested and out of the way. I believed her."

_Ranger's POV_

When I saw the photo of Escobar's wife, I finally understood why this was all happening. It was revenge, plain and simple. After West admitted that Gina tricked him, I took over the interview. I walked over to my Babe and motioned for her to stand. As soon as she was standing, I took a seat and pulled her down on my lap. I looked at West and asked, "Was the General involved in this? Or was he simply blackmailed into falsely arresting me?"

West grimaced and said, "He didn't go along with us when the bank account was first opened. We had to threaten his daughter before he complied. He's already tendered his resignation because he was so disgusted with himself. I actually feel bad for the guy."

This made me feel a little bit better. I didn't think that the General would betray me so readily. West's confession was proof enough for me to go easy on the General. I would try to make sure he was given the lightest sentence possible when charges get filed against him. At this point, I hope they just accept his resignation and let him live out the rest of his days in peace.

West looked a little dejected, but I wasn't finished with him yet. I looked at him and asked, "Why and how did you get Rachel involved?"

West looked almost ashamed and said, "Gina convinced me that Rachel's involvement was necessary. She thought it would cause the most confusion and pain when you found out that she was involved."

I thought about Escobar and his death. His wife would have had no idea that I was there or that I was the one that killed her husband. I didn't understand how she found me and how she identified me.

*******_Flashback to Colombia 5 years ago_*******

**_My team and I have been running surveillance on a high value target for the past 15 months. When our team was selected, only individuals who were of Latin or Spanish descent were considered because we were going to Colombia. I was given command of the operation and I ordered my men to integrate themselves into the local community as best as possible. _**

**_True to his character, Lester Santos used the local female population for information and company. Somehow, no fights broke out between the numerous women. They simply accepted the time they could spent with Lester and didn't complain when he was with another._**

**_When Lester came to me after almost a year and a half to tell me that his new playmate was none other than Paula Escobar, I could see the end in sight. Lester got several pieces of information that put some of our men in position to work for Escobar. He also learned that Paula loved her husband for his money. He beat her regularly, but she kept going back. She would put up with a lot of things to have access to that kind of many. _**

**_One day, Paula stopped returning Lester's phone calls about three months before our mission was finally concluded, and we all teased him that he was losing his touch. Lester did a bit of digging and found out Paula checked into an exclusive private clinic in Bogota. We assumed it was alcohol or drug related because she always seemed to be under the influence of one or the other. Her husband wasn't a nice guy so she passed her time by spending his money or making herself chemically happy. _**

**_Two months later, we managed to get two of our men on the inside using the information that Paula originally provided. They joined the security team on the Escobar estate and were able to learn all of the security protocols. After three weeks, the rest of the team infiltrated the compound with the intention of arresting Escobar. Unfortunately, Escobar refused to be taken to prison. He pulled a gun on me and I was forced to shoot him in self defence. _**

**_The Colombian government pretended to be disappointed that they weren't going to be able to make an example of Escobar. Their complaints died down when they found out that Escobar's confiscated estate was worth billions. Everyone was happy with the result of the mission and I took my money and left ran. I left the Rangers and started saving for RangeMan._**

**_*****End of Flashback*****_**

I looked at West. He looked somewhat nervous. I wanted him to be terrified, but more than that, I needed to know how Paula found out that I was the one who killed Enrique.

"West, do you know why Gina targeted me specifically?"

West shook his head and said, "She never told me. I just assumed that you broke her heart in a previous life and that she wanted revenge. You've seen her picture. She's hot and she does all sorts of things in the bedroom. Those things made it worth my while to make your life a bit of a nightmare. I've been trying to get you to work for me for years but you keep turning me down. You always thought that you were too good for Black Scorpion, but it was the other way around."

I rolled my eye and said, "You don't have to worry about that. Black Scorpion will be going down with you. The company provided the personnel who kidnapped me. They owned the building where I was held captive and you are a senior member of staff. The company won't survive once all of this comes out."

West looked at me in shock. "I was honest with you. There's no need for you to take me and my company down just for a few practical jokes."

This made me angry so I lifted my Babe off my lap and picked West up by the collar before I started talking. "Practical Jokes? You call those practical jokes? You are guilty of several federal and state crimes. kidnapping, bank fraud and extortion, just to name a few. You also involved my ex-wife and now my daughter might have to grow up without her mother. Do you honestly think I'd let you get away with that?"

West's facial expression was a little more scared, but he still had a smug look on his face. I didn't know what could possibly make him think he'd get away with this. I just stood there and stared at him. After 5 minutes of silence, West started to smile. He looked at me and said, "If Gina is unable to contact me, she'll move onto plan B. Trust me when I tell you that you're not going to like Plan B."

My next action somehow went from my hand to West's face, skipping my brain altogether. I looked down at West's prone body on the floor with surprise. I looked over at my Babe and saw her staring at me with wide eyes. She recovered quickly and said, "Ranger, we need to call the authorities and get them to pick up Gina."

I nodded and said, "What do you think her Plan B is?"

My babe frowned and said, "I think she's going to go after somebody you love. You killed her husband so she's going to want to hurt you in the same way. If you were still involved with Rachel, I'd say it was her. But since she's out of your life, I'd say Julie."

"I agree Babe. I'll call Ron now and then send Tank and a couple of the Miami office guys there to protect Julie. I'll also call my family and inform them that they might be in danger."

Babe and I left West on the floor and went to inform the guys of our next move. I went to find George and Babe went to talk to Tank. I trusted her to do her relay the necessary information to Tank because I needed to talk to George.

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More will come tomorrow. Please let me know what you think so far.


	20. Chapter 20

Sheesh. I'm the one writing this and even I'm biting my nails out of anticipation. Enjoy the next chapter.

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_George's POV_

Ranger came bursting into my room without knocking and sent a few papers flying. I looked up in annoyance, but as soon as I saw the look on his face, I said, "What's wrong Ranger?"

Ranger started rambling and I tried to keep up. "Gina Matthews is the person responsible for all of this mess. She's had face altering plastic surgery and is actually an illegal immigrant from Colombia. Her real name is Paula Escobar, the wife of the man I killed 5 years ago. She needs to be arrested before she is able to do any more damage."

I stood there and listened to the whole story. Ranger gave me details about West, Rachel and the General's involvement. He also mentioned that Gina had a backup plan in place just in case things fell apart. As of yet, we don't know what that plan includes. I couldn't believe it. It sounded too much like a film plot than real life.

Ranger's tone of voice went from relatively calm to desperate. He said, "We need arrest warrants for the General, Rachel and West. We have the necessary proof that would convince any prosecutor or judge to issue those warrants."

I just stood there staring at Ranger and said, "Are you sure? There's not going back."

Ranger nodded and I said, "OK, I'll make a phone call to the D.C. FBI office right now. I'll come find you when I'm done."

I watched Ranger walk out of the room and picked up my phone. I called a friend who worked for the FBI and waiting while the phone rang.

"Hi Bob."

"George, what can I do for you at this late hour?"

"Do you remember the explosion in Atlanta a few days ago, the one that allegedly killed Carlos Manoso?"

"Yeah, we're all still reeling at that. How did Ranger let somebody get something over him?"

"He didn't. He's not dead. In fact, I'm calling because I need you to issue four federal arrest warrants. We have one of the men in custody here in Miami and a second is being watched not far away."

"OK, give me the broad strokes and who are we arresting?"

"Five years ago, Ranger finished a 2 year mission in Columbia that culminated with the death of Enrique Escobar, a well known criminal and drug lord. Anyway, Escobar's wife Paula had plastic surgery around the time of his death. She illegally immigrated to the US 3 years ago under an alias. She somehow attached herself to and married General Matthews.

"Somehow, this woman found out that it was Ranger who killed her husband. She devised a plan to bring him down and kill him. Her accomplices were both willing and not so willing, but they have broken the law and need to answer for their crimes against Mr. Manoso.

"Gina Matthews recruited Tim West from Black Scorpion using promises of money and sex. He then recruited Rachel Martine, Ranger's ex-wife. Together, West and Rachel fraudulently opened a bank account in Gina's name. They then used that bank account to blackmail the General."

After I finished talking, there was silence on the other end of the line. "Bob, are you still there?"

"Sorry George, I'm here. I'm just having a hard time following. Do you have proof of all of this?"

"I do. I have bank surveillance that shows Rachel Martine fraudulently opening a bank account in Gina Matthews' name. I have West's admissions on video and tape. We also have Gina Matthews on tape giving West something at the bank on the day the account was opened. Lastly, there are plenty of witnesses who can confirm that the General fraudulently arrested and detained Ranger. He was kept in a Black Scorpion facility that exploded moments after Ranger escaped. That's attempted murder."

"That sounds like enough for me to get those warrants issued. I will get the paperwork drawn up send a request to the local PD to bring in the General and his wife ASAP. Since Ranger is already there in Miami, we'll give RangeMan the right to arrest Tim West and Rachel Martine. I will fax the warrants to the RangeMan office there in Miami. "

I thanked my friend and went to find Ranger, knowing that I had my work cut out for me over the next few weeks. Putting the necessary paperwork together to take this to court will keep me busy. At least I knew that RangeMan would pay me handsomely for my time.

_Stephanie's POV_

As soon as we left the basement, I went directly to Tank. I explained what West told us and Tank immediately got on the phone with RangeMan Miami and raced toward the Martine house with Hal, Woody, Lula and Ram. They would secure the house and ensure that Rachel was detained. They would also tell the Martines' that there was a threat against Julie. With Tank to protect her, I was confident that nobody could get to Julie.

There was one thing that was still nagging me about this whole situation. How did Gina associate Ranger with her husband's death? I knew the same question was bothering Ranger as well, so I was determined to get to the bottom of it. I was sitting in the living room mulling over my thoughts and looking at the photos. I was so lost in thought that Lester's entrance into the room went unnoticed by me until he spoke.

"What are you doing Beautiful?"

I looked up and smiled at Lester. "Hey Les, I'm just trying to answer one last question about this whole mystery."

"What question is that Beautiful?"

"When you guys were in Columbia on the Escobar mission, is there any way that his wife knew who killed her husband?"

Lester thought for a moment and said, "I had a lot of interaction with Paula." Lester paused to waggled his eyebrows at me and I rolled my eyes in reply. "Even though I spent a lot of time with her, she had no idea we were American, let alone there to apprehend her husband. We never saw her after she left for the clinic. We do know that she returned home before we killed her husband, but she returned to the clinic the day before we finished our mission. I never saw her again."

I was frustrated so I growled and threw the file I was holding. Pictures flew across the room in a less than artistic pattern. I sighed and stood to pick up the photos. Lester got up and helped me. He frowned when he looked down at the photo he was holding. He looked at me and said, "Beautiful, why do you have this side-by-side photo of Paula Escobar and Gina Matthews?"

I had assumed that the guys were watching the recording of the interview, but apparently not. I also wasn't sure about how much information Ranger shared with the guys so I told him what I knew. "Paula and Gina are the same person. Her trips to the clinic were for plastic surgery. She snuck into the country using an alias. She married the General and somehow she figured out that it was Ranger who killed her husband back in Colombia."

I looked up at Lester and expected to see a smiling face. Instead, I saw a look of panic, shock and even a little worry. "What's wrong Les?"

"Where's Ranger?"

I wasn't sure so I shrugged and said, "He's probably still talking to George. He was going to give George the go-ahead to talk to the FBI so that they could issue the arrest warrants."

I barely finished my explanation when Lester ran out of the room. He looked panicked so I followed him around the house searching for Ranger.

_Lester's POV_

I have a feeling I know how Paula find out that Ranger killed her husband. I just needed to find Ranger because my memory of the night in question is a little bit fuzzy. I had a bit too much to drink but I still managed to go home with one of the cocktail waitresses.

I found Ranger as he was leaving George's room. He looked up at me and immediately noticed that something was wrong.

"Les, what's up?"

I swallowed and said, "Do you remember the awards ceremony we attended last year for the General?"

Ranger nodded so I continued. "At one point that evening, the General introduced us to his new fiancée. We then went on to reminisce about our past jobs without giving specific details away. Is it possible that we said something that Gina would have recognised? Could she have figured things out that night? My memory is a bit vague. The champagne was very good and I had quite a lot by then."

Ranger looked down at his hands and was silent for a few minutes. He finally looked up at me and said, "I recall talking about your way with the ladies. I remember saying something about '**_fulfilling the mission_**' and your disappointment about leaving so many willing women behind. I suppose she could have put two and two together. She must have recognised you at least."

Ranger was silent for a few more minutes. Beautiful was the one to break the silence. "I still don't get it. Even if she knew it was you who personally killed her husband, why would she care? Wasn't her husband horrible to her?"

Beautiful had a good point, but logic doesn't always rule the heart. I said, "Just because he treated her poorly, doesn't mean that she hated him. You see it all the time, abuse victims returning to their abusers."

Stephanie sighed and said, "I suppose we'll have to wait until she's arrested and ask her ourselves."

_Lula's POV_

We arrived at the Martine house around 10PM. We explained that a threat had been made against Julie and that we were there to keep watch over the family. Ron accepted this without question but it was clear that Rachel wasn't overly happy with the situation.

Before we left, Stephanie suggested that I accompany the guys. We both felt that Rachel might not see me as much of a threat and slip up around me. I could keep a close eye on Rachel and let everyone know if she does anything suspicious.

We hadn't been there for more than 15 minutes when Rachel made an excuse and walked into the kitchen. Once alone, she pulled out her phone and tried to call Tim West. She got his voicemail again and hung up muttering to herself. She said something about not being there when she needed him. I stood discreetly in the corner and witnessed the whole thing. When Rachel turned, she saw me standing there.

She tried to cover up what she was doing by saying, "Ah, Lula is it? I was just going to call the school to let them know that the kids wouldn't be in tomorrow. I changed my mind when I noticed how late it was."

I smiled sweetly and asked, "Doesn't the school have an answering machine? Why didn't you leave a message?"

It was clear to me that Rachel was trying to come up with another lie, so I saved her the trouble. "Rachel, I know you weren't calling the school. I also know that the person you were calling is not going to pick up."

Rachel stuttered and said, "I d-d-don't know what y-you m-mean."

"Don't play stupid with me Rachel. You were trying to call Tim West. We also know that you tried to call him earlier when you ran into Ranger. You were going to tell West that he was alive and injured, weren't you?"

Rachel looked like she was going to faint, so I walked over and helped her sit on a chair at the kitchen table. I'd been fully briefed on the way over so I knew everything that West had confessed. I glared at Rachel and asked, "How could you do this to Ranger? How could you do this to Ron and your kids? I've seen West, he's not that much to look at."

Rachel started to sob and sniffle. She looked up at me and said, "And now, neither is Carlos."

"What are you talking about? Ranger is still as hot as ever. He's sporting a bit of a bruise on his jaw, but when I left him an hour ago, he was looking fine and Stephanie was keeping him happy."

I could see Rachel tense when I mentioned Stephanie's name, but she didn't believe me about Ranger's appearance. "I saw Carlos earlier. He was all burned and disfigured. He was limping and he looked quite ill."

"That was just makeup, really good move quality makeup mind you. Ranger survived that explosion without a scratch. None of his men were killed either. He played you to see if you would contact West. You tried to call your slap and tickle buddy, but you didn't get through. By that time, the guys were probably already in his room arresting him. What on earth did that man say or do to make you turn on Ranger? He's been giving you generous monthly payments and keeping you in Louboutins for years."

Rachel had tears streaming down her face, and after a few minutes of sniffling she finally answered my question. "At first, Tim complimented me and told me how crazy Carlos was to let me go. He made me feel beautiful and sexy. At one point, he almost had me convinced that I should try to get back together with Carlos, but I knew that would never work. Carlos doesn't do relationships and he'd never move down to Miami to be with us.

"When I told that to Tim, he confessed that he was glad I wasn't going back to Carlos. He said that he wanted to keep me for himself and we started sleeping together that night. Tim told me things about Carlos each time we met. He told me that Carlos' fortune was vast and that it would go to Julie and me if something happened to him. I confess that I started mentally spending money at that time. I couldn't stop seeing Tim, even when it became clear that he was setting Carlos up to be killed. Julie doesn't know Carlos all that well, so losing him shouldn't be too traumatic for her. We'd get his money and simply move on with our lives."

I looked at her like she was crazy. "Are you on drugs or something? Why do you think that Ranger's money would just go to you if he died?"

"Tim said it would. I am his ex-wife. The money always goes to the next-of-kin. That's me."

I actually laughed at her naivety. "Have you ever heard of a last will and testament? It's this legal document that one writes so in the event of their death so that their estate is distributed in a manner of their choosing."

Rachel stared at me like I was speaking a foreign language. I giggled and simplified things down for her even further. I even talked to her using that tone of voice that adults use on small children. "Ranger has a will and if something were to happen to him, you wouldn't get his money. Julie will get some money but it would be protected from you. You would have no access to that money and neither would Julie until she's 18 years old. The rest of his money would probably be divided amongst his loved ones. You are not a loved one Rachel."

Rachel was stunned into silence. She sat there staring at me with a blank look on her face. I don't know why, but it made me laugh. This must have annoyed her because she snapped and lunged for me. She raised her arm in an attempt to hit me, but was able to easily block her. Before she knew what happened to her, I had Rachel flat on her stomach with her hands held behind her back.

The guys must have heard the commotion from the other room because they started filing into the room to see what was going on. Tank smiled down at me and asked, "What's going on here Lula?" He handed me a pair of handcuffs.

I laughed at the looks on the faces of the guys and said, "Rachel here took offence to the fact that she's not the big winner in Ranger's will."

Rachel was squirming and spitting and said, "Let me up. If Ron finds out about this, I'll kill you."

I laughed at her and heaved her to her feet, quickly locking the cuffs on her hands. I looked her directly in the eye and said, "Ron already knows about this. He talked to Ranger the other day. Ron informed Ranger that he was going to serve you with divorce papers. Ranger asked him to hold off for a couple of days until we were able to confront Mr. West. West is currently being questioned at a RangeMan facility. That's why you can't get a hold of him."

Rachel smirked and said, "If Ron divorces me, he'll lose paternal rights to Julie. He wouldn't do that to her."

I smiled back and said, "That's why Ron called Ranger the other day. Ron wanted to make arrangements with Ranger to keep seeing Julie. Ranger agreed that it wouldn't be fair to Julie to lose Ron and you at the same time."

My comment clearly confused Rachel because she said, "Why would she lose me? I'm her mother."

This woman really was stupid. "Rachel, you committed at least one federal crime. You were also an accessory to several other crimes. You'll be lucky if you don't spend the rest of your life in jail."

Rachel fainted at those words. We all stood around her, waiting for her to wake up. After 5 minutes, Tank got bored of waiting and carried her into the living room and bound her to the rattan sofa with a second pair of handcuffs. When she eventually woke up, we'd tell her that she was in our custody and that we'd hand her over to the FBI when we were sure that Julie and the rest of the family was safe.

Tank looked at me and said, "I was hoping to get an opportunity to see you acting as a pacifist with Rachel back there. I loved what you said to West, that you were going to pass-a-fist across his face. I hope I get to witness that at some point."

I laughed and hugged Tank and turned back to look down at Rachel. She's definitely lucky that I didn't punch her. I've been taking lessons and I bet I could have broken her nose. I let go of Tank and sat down to keep an eye on Rachel. She wasn't going to escape on my watch.

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Now that's two people in RangeMan custody and one in FBI custody. Three down, one to go. What's next? There is only one more chapter left in this story, so keep your eyes out for it and the next installment of the RangeWoman series.

Let me know your thoughts.


	21. Chapter 21

As I said previously, this is the final chapter in The Fallout. I will continue the RangeWoman series with another installment shortly. Please enjoy and thanks for all of your support.

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_Ranger's POV_

George just came into the living room and it was obvious to everyone in the room that he had something to tell us. "The General has been arrested. He didn't put up much of a fight when he was read his rights. He didn't start to seem agitated until they told him that Ranger is alive. Now he's begging to talk to you Ranger, he says it's important. The FBI assumes that he just wants to get you to testify on his behalf and says that the General can have no visitors until tomorrow.

"Unfortunately, Gina wasn't home when the police arrived to arrest them but it's only a matter of time before they catch up with her."

I smiled down at Stephanie after George left and said, "It's almost over Babe. I think we should get some sleep."

My Babe nodded and yawned as I helped her to her feet. It has been a long day and now that I know Julie is safe, I can finally get some rest. I looked around the safe house and noticed that most of the men were sitting around waiting for news. I smiled at them and said, "The General is behind bars, West is downstairs, Rachel is going nowhere. We'll let the FBI and the police worry about Gina. Get some rest."

We walked to the room that Babe and I were sharing and got ready for Bed. Babe went to wash and brush her teeth so I took the opportunity to call Tank for an update.

"Yo."

"Tank, Report!"

"You married and divorced one smart cookie."

"That's an unusual report Tank, what's going on?"

I heard Tank laugh and say, "Lula gave Rachel a bit of an education earlier. Somehow, West convinced Rachel that because she was your ex-wife, she'd automatically get your money. She's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, is she?"

I had to laugh at that. "How is Ron holding up?"

"He seems OK. He's concerned about the kids and how they'll cope when Rachel is arrested."

"That's good to hear Tank. I've already assured him that I will not keep Julie away from him."

"Yeah, Ron mentioned that. He seemed very grateful. He even mentioned moving out of Miami so the kids could get away from the mess their mother will undoubtedly leave behind. I told him that we'd help him relocate if that's what he decides."

I could hear faint talking and louder laughter in the background and then a chuckle out of Tank. "What's going on big man?"

"Oh, Lula was just telling Hal about a comment she made to West earlier. Hal is busting a gut laughing."

I laughed. "Yeah, I heard she told him that she was a pacifist. That's the best line I've heard in a long time. Tell her I'm proud of her."

"Will do Boss Man. Get some rest. There's a little girl here who's hoping to see you in the morning."

"Good night Tank. Keep the kids home from school tomorrow. I'll be by as soon as I can get West passed off to the feds in the morning. I will also need Ron to help me explain what's going on to the kids. He might want to take the day off as well."

I got off the phone and got ready for bed myself. I returned to find my Babe already in bed. I crawled in beside her, pulled her towards me and fell asleep within seconds.

_Fiona's POV_

Lester told me about the General and that he was requesting to speak to Ranger. When I heard that the General was blackmailed into going along with Gina and West, I felt bad for him. I actually know his daughter quite well. We went to school together. I wanted to check up on her because she has probably heard the news about her father by now. She works in the Baltimore District Attorney's office, so surely somebody has let her know what's going on.

Now that all danger was over the only thing on my mind was comforting my friend. I tried to call her using the RangeMan satellite phone. I tried again a few minutes later using a borrowed phone from Lester. Neither call was answered. Part of me just wanted to fall into bed and get some much needed sleep, but another part of me was worried about Patricia.

I would have talked things over with Lula, but she wasn't here tonight. I needed to talk to somebody, so I went in search for Lester. I knocked on his door and a few seconds later, he opened the door. "Hey Firecracker, are you here to enjoy the Lester experience?"

His hair was dishevelled and he was wearing nothing but a pair of loose fitting jeans that looked like they were donned hastily. I looked at his smiling face and it only took seconds for Lester's demeanour to change when he saw that I wasn't there for thrills and entertainment.

"What's wrong Firecracker?"

"Les, I'm worried about my friend Patricia. She's the General's daughter, and I can't get in touch with her. In order for Gina to get the General to go along with the plan to arrest Ranger, they threatened to hurt Patricia. She is a good friend of mine, so I called her to make sure that she was OK. I can't get a hold of her and she always answers her phone."

Lester looked at me and said, "Maybe she's just tired and is sleeping. It is quite late after all."

"Patricia is a Deputy DA in Baltimore. When the warrant for her father went over the line, she would have been notified. There's no way she isn't still awake."

Lester frowned and said, "I'll call a friend on the Baltimore PD to see if he can swing by her house."

I nodded and gave Lester the address. I watched and waited as Lester made his call. His friend agreed and promised to call back once he was at the property. I thanked Lester with a quick hug that lasted longer than I intended. Lester held me close and I felt relaxed in his arms. After it began to get uncomfortable for me, I said, "I'm going to return to my room. Come get me when you find out something."

Lester nodded and I was reaching for the door handle when his phone rang. I turned and looked at him with raised eyebrows. It had been less than 10 minutes, what could they possibly know already? I impatiently waited as Lester talked to his friend. His face was blank so he wasn't giving anything away. His single word responses were also less than helpful.

Lester finally hung up and just stood there and stared at me with a slight hint of a smile on his face. I stared back at him, growing more frustrated with each passing second. "Come on Lester, what happened."

Lester looked at me again and said, "Stephanie has her spidey sense and Lula has her fishy factor. What do we call yours?"

I rolled my eyes at Lester and asked, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Lester moved towards me and grinned like a food. He put his hands on my shoulders, looked me in the eye and said, "A patrol car was already in the neighbourhood when the call went out over the radio. They went to Patricia's house and guess what they found?"

I shrugged so Lester continued. "Patricia was tied to a chair and being held at gunpoint by none other than her dear step mother. The police were able to get surprise Gina by coming in the back door and surrounding her.

"They arrested Gina without anyone being injured. Gina exchanged a few gunshots with the cops, but they surrounded her and she eventually surrendered. We got her Firecracker, all because you were worried about your friend."

I stood there shocked, so I barely paid attention to what Lester was saying. "We'll have to come up with something cool to name your instinctual feeling. Something like '**_Red alert_**' or **_'Fire alarm_**.'"

Lester hugged me and held me tight. This time, I didn't pull away. Instead, I just let myself melt into him. When I yawned a few minutes later, Lester led me towards his bed and told me to get some sleep. As I crawled under the covers, I barely registered it when he said that he was going to tell Ranger the good news.

_Stephanie's POV_

Something woke me up, but I wasn't sure what. I looked at the clock and saw that it was approaching 1AM. I closed my eyes and tried to get back to sleep. I sighed and was just about to snuggle closer to Ranger when his phone vibrated. That must have been the noise that woke me up a few minutes ago.

I was annoyed because the guys weren't supposed to contact Ranger unless it was an emergency. Hopefully this counted or Ranger would drag someone to the mats as soon as we were back in civilisation again. I had to nudge Ranger awake because he hadn't heard the phone. I watched as he picked up his phone. He read the message, smiled and then handed the phone to me so that I could read the message.

_Gina arrested by Baltimore PD. _

_Additional charges pending. _

_Held Patricia Matthews against her will._

_Exchanged gun fire with arresting officers._

_Currently in FBI custody._

I smiled at Ranger and said, "Does this mean that it's all over?"

Ranger smiled back at me and hugged me. He said, "I think so Babe. All of the suspects are in custody. Why don't you get some sleep? I need to call Tank and then make arrangements to head to D.C. in the morning."

I nodded and then asked, "What about Julie? Aren't you going to see her before you leave town?"

For a moment, it looked like Ranger was torn. He signed and said, "I will go to see Julie very early. I'll then head up to D.C."

"Don't you mean that we'll head up to D.C. Ranger? I don't want to get separated from you again. The last time, you were arrested and almost killed."

Ranger smiled at me and said, "Alright Babe, we'll head over to the Martine house first thing and then we'll fly up to D.C. I'll get Tank oversee the transfer of custody for West and Rachel to the Miami FBI offices and follow us later."

This sounded acceptable to me so I watched Ranger leave the room and fell back asleep almost soon afterward, thinking that things would soon return to normal. Boy was I wrong.

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Well, that's the end of The Fallout. What a roller coaster ride it was too. All of the baddies are behind bars where they can no longer cause any harm to Ranger and his family.

The next RangeWoman story will be started soon, but I might take a break from this series and post one of my other stories first.

Let me know what you would prefer. Based on votes I receive from the feedback between now and Tuesday, I will either upload the first chapter of a new RangeWoman story or a new story altogether. Vote wisely my friends. :)

L.


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